Tamarin Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a seat and listen up. I’m looking at the coming weeks for Tamarin Bay, and it’s a story of two halves. The water is sitting at a warm 76° right now, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so you’ll be comfortable in a spring suit or less.

The first few days, starting Thursday, August 20th, are pretty average. The swell is small, around 3 ft to 4 ft from the S/SW, with a short period and cross-off winds. The energy is weak on Thursday morning, only about 199 (combined energy), so it’s not really worth paddling out for. The late afternoon shows a pulse of period from the SW, but the surf is still pretty ordinary. Friday and Saturday are a bit of a write-off, with very poor conditions despite the swell building. The look is messy.

The real action kicks off on Saturday afternoon, the 22nd. The wind goes glassy out of the SSE, and the swell jumps to 5 ft from the SSW. The energy is building nicely, hitting 857, and it’s real clean. That’s a solid session. Sunday the 23rd is where it gets interesting. The swell is getting chunky, with 8 ft early and 7 ft in the afternoon, but it’s a long period (15 seconds) groundswell. That kind of energy (2178) is going to unload. For a spot like this, that long period swell hits the reef best, so expect some lined-up, powerful waves. The wind is light and cross-off, so it’s clean. This is expert territory, for sure.

Monday the 24th is a standout. You’ve got a solid 8 ft SSW swell, with glassy conditions in the afternoon. The energy is massive at 2462. That’s a serious injection of southwest swell. The wind is dead calm, glassy, so the surface will be like a mirror. This is the best day of the week for experienced surfers. Tuesday the 25th also sees very good conditions, with a glassy morning and a dropping 7 ft swell, but the energy is still strong at 1306.

Now, after that, the long-range stuff gets a bit wild. From the 27th of August, the swell really cranks up. We’re talking 10 ft to 13 ft of SSW swell, with periods up to 19 seconds. The energy is absolutely huge, values like 7660 and 10428. That’s a massive, powerful groundswell. For a reef break, this is going to be a big, heavy, dangerous wave. Only for the most experienced crew. The wind is also strong, 18-25 mph from the SE, cross-off, so it will be clean but blown out. Honestly, at that size and with that wind, it’s probably more interesting for kite surfing than normal paddle surfing. The swell stays up through the start of September, but it gets smaller and the wind stays fresh, so the quality drops off.

The best honest-to-goodness surf is Saturday the 22nd afternoon through to Tuesday the 25th. Grab that glassy window on Monday the 24th if you can handle it. The rest is either too small, too windy, or too big for most.

Rusty

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