Tandjung-Lefts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty. Looking at the 16-day window for Tandjung-Lefts, I gotta be straight with you—there’s no decent surf on the cards for a long stretch. The whole period is pretty much written off for clean, rideable waves. The first real chance of anything even close to surfable doesn’t pop up until the 1st of August, and even then it’s a very marginal call. That’s a solid gap of about two weeks with nothing worth paddling out for.

The main issue here is the wind. Almost every day, it’s blowing cross-onshore from the ESE or SE, 12 to 16 mph, which is just trashing what little swell there is. The water temp is sitting around 81°F, which is pretty standard for this time of year—nothing unusual there.

The swell itself is mostly from the SSW, running 3ft to 7ft, and the period is often in the 13 to 17-second range, which would normally be decent groundswell. But with that wind, it’s just a choppy, messy affair. The combined wave energy ranges from moderate to strong—like 1167 (moderate) up to 3043 (strong) on the 31st of July—but it’s all wasted. Tandjung-Lefts is a reef break that only works for advanced surfers, and it’s been consistently rated as poor conditions. The offshore wind direction is supposed to be W for this spot, but we’re getting ESE and SE, so it’s all wrong.

The only standout in the whole outlook is the 31st of July Friday afternoon and the 1st of August Saturday morning. On the 31st, you’ve got a 7ft SSW swell with a 18-second period and strong energy (2784). That’s a proper groundswell, but the wind is still cross-onshore at 16 mph, so it’s gonna be a bumpy, expert-only session. The 1st of August morning sees a slight drop to 6ft from the SSW with a 17-second period, still strong energy (1895), but the wind is still cross-onshore. The rating finally lifts to “marginal” on the Saturday afternoon, with 6ft SSW swell, 16-second period, and moderate energy (1551). That’s your best bet, but it’s still not clean. This spot is a reef, so a long-period swell like this can actually work well if the wind ever turns offshore, but it’s not happening here.

If you’re a paddle surfer, honestly, you’re better off waiting for a different window. The persistent cross-onshore and strong winds make this setup look more interesting for kite surfing than traditional surfing. The breaks are rare here, and this forecast is a dry spell. I’d say don’t hold your breath—things can change, but right now, it’s a tough run.

Rusty.

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