Tandjung-Lefts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a look at what the next couple of weeks are serving up.

Well, I’ve got to be straight with you – it’s looking like a pretty grim run for the foreseeable future. For Tandjung-Lefts, this is one of those stretches where you might want to leave the boards in the car and just watch the horizon. The whole 16-day window is a real mixed bag of onshore wind and mess.

Starting from Wednesday the 2nd right through to the end of Saturday the 5th, the wind is just relentless. A steady cross-onshore breeze from the ESE and SE, blowing at 15-25 km/h, is going to make a mess of that 6 ft to 6 ft swell. The wave energy is weak to moderate in that period, but it doesn’t matter when it’s all blown out. The water temp is a warm 80°F, which is about average for the time of year.

We get a bit of a break around Sunday the 6th through to Tuesday the 9th, with a touch more swell – pulsing up to around 7 ft to 7 ft – and a healthy moderate to strong wave energy pushing up past 2000. The period is nice and long, hitting 14-19 seconds, which is proper groundswell. But again, that cross-onshore wind is stubborn. By Wednesday the 9th afternoon, a lighter 6 mph cross-shore breeze shows up, offering a brief moment of hope, but the surf is still labelled as marginal.

Honestly, the only period that even makes me raise an eyebrow is Monday the 7th afternoon. The wind finally shifts to a true cross-shore from the SSE at 9 mph. It’s not glassy, but it’s the least chopped out we’ll see. The swell is a solid 7 ft from the SSW with a good 14-second period, and wave energy is moderate. For an advanced spot like Tandjung-Lefts, that’s your best shot at a session with some shape.

After that, it’s back into a slog of cross-onshore wind and lumpy conditions. By the second week, from around September 12th through the 17th, the swell size starts getting serious. We’re looking at 7 ft to 8 ft from the SSW, with very long periods up to 17 seconds and wave energy climbing into the strong range. But the wind is still cross-onshore or onshore. At 8 ft, this is expert-only territory even on a clean day, and with that wind, it’s going to be a washing machine. That’s less of a surf session and more of a survival mission. Honestly, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing right now.

So, to wrap it up: there’s a lot of swell on the charts, but the wind is just not playing ball. Keep the dates marked for Monday the 7th afternoon as the only true stand-out, but even then, don’t expect perfection. The rest is a waiting game. Forecasts can change, so I’ll keep an eye on it.

Rusty.

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