Tankers Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve gotta be straight with you—this is one of those outlooks where you might wanna save your energy for something else. The only spot on the cards is Tankers, a reef break, and the whole 16-day window is a mess of strong winds and puny, mixed-up swell. The best you’ll get is a couple of mornings where it’s just barely worth a paddle, but don’t expect any fireworks.

We start out Tuesday, 18 August, with a tiny 3ft south swell pushing in at 13 seconds. The wind is a cross-off from the ENE at 12 mph, so it’s clean but the energy is weak (330). The waves are marginal and questionable with the tide—honestly, it’s a struggle for even a longboard. Wednesday morning, 19 August, is a little better: a 2ft SW swell, 16 seconds, with a lighter 6 mph cross-off. The energy is still nothing special (284), but the conditions are clean and the score is the highest we’ll see in this whole run. That’s your pick, if you can call it that—small, clean, and you’ll have the place mostly to yourself since crowds are only occasional here.

Thursday morning, 20 August, has a similar 2ft SW swell at 18 seconds, but the wind goes light and glassy by the afternoon (3 mph from the SE). The energy jumps to 399, which is moderate, and the surface is glassy. It’d be a nice little session if the swell had any push, but it’s still small. After that, it’s downhill. From Friday, 21 August, the wind cranks up, and from Saturday, 22 August, we get a 15–22 mph ENE cross-off that sticks around for days and days. The swell turns into a short-period, wind-driven mess from the east with periods of just 7–8 seconds, and heights hitting 5ft to 7ft through the middle of the week. The energy climbs into the moderate-to-strong range (554 to 796), but it’s all poor surf with strong breezes—clean on the surface but ugly, choppy waves that are closing out. For a reef break, this east swell is coming from the wrong direction (optimum is south), so it’s basically unsurfable.

There’s a long gap of nothing worth recommending from Friday afternoon all the way through to Wednesday, 2 September. The final entry on 2 September shows the energy dropping to just 78—that’s weak, almost flat. The wind backs off to 9 mph but it’s cross-shore, and the swell is a tiny 2ft from the SSE at 10 seconds. Not worth suiting up.

So, if you’re desperate, Wednesday morning 19 August is the standout by default—small, clean, and glassy vibes. But honestly, this forecast is a write-off. The area is prone to blank runs like this when the trades lock in, and that’s exactly what’s happening. Keep an eye on the charts, but don’t hold your breath.

Rusty.

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