Tarantulas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for the next couple of weeks.

We're looking at a pretty patchy run overall, with no real standout days. The surf starts off small and messy, and honestly, it's a bit of a struggle to find a good window. The water is sitting at 63° which is pretty much normal for this time of year.

First up, we've got Thursday the 30th of July. The morning shows a 3 ft swell from the SSW with a long 16-second period, but the wind is a cross-on from the W at 9 mph, making it choppy. The combined energy is moderate (1168). It's not great, but it's something. The afternoon sees the swell jump to 6 ft from the NW, but the period drops to a short 8 seconds and the wind picks up to 16 mph from the NW, creating a messy cross-chop. Not worth paddling out for.

Friday the 31st of July is more of the same. A 6 ft NW swell at 8 seconds in the morning with a cross wind, and the afternoon is even worse with 16 mph winds. The energy is dropping (951). Honestly, it's a write-off.

The weekend isn't much better. Saturday the 1st of August has a 7 ft NW swell in the morning, but it's short-period and cross-shore. The afternoon does get a clean look with a cross-offshore wind from the NNW at 19 mph, but it's still a short-period 7 ft NW swell. That's getting big, and with that wind, it's one for the experts only, and even then it's a bit of a gamble.

Sunday the 2nd of August is the most promising of the first week. The morning has an 8 ft NW swell with a 9-second period, and the afternoon holds 8 ft NW. The afternoon wind is a clean cross-offshore from the NW at 16 mph. The energy is strong (1033-1159). This is the only window that might offer some decent, clean waves at Tarantulas, but it's solidly in the expert-only zone at that size. After that, it's a long stretch of mediocrity.

From Monday the 3rd of August through to around Wednesday the 13th of August, there's a near-constant run of cross-shore or cross-onshore winds, mostly with short-period NW swell. The swell height fluctuates between 4 ft and 7 ft, but the quality is consistently let down by the wind. The energy is all over the place, from a weak 282 up to a strong 1808, but the wind just kills it. There's a brief moment on the morning of Tuesday the 5th of August with a 4 ft NW swell and a light offshore wind from the WSW, but the wave comment is "unknown" which doesn't inspire confidence.

The second week sees a drop in swell size. By Thursday the 7th of August, the morning shows a 5 ft NW swell with a 10-second period and moderate energy (1119), but the wind is cross-shore. The afternoons are consistently poor.

The 8th of August is interesting. The swell drops to 2 ft from the SSW with a very long 18-second period. The afternoon gets a clean cross-offshore wind, but it's tiny. That long period groundswell might wrap in and offer some clean little lines if the tide is right, but it's a gamble.

After that, it's a long, drawn-out tail of small, messy NW swell. The 13th and 14th of August have some small, long-period SSW and SW swells (2 ft to 3 ft, 15-16 seconds), but the winds are cross or cross-on, making it a tough call.

In short, there's no epic run here. The best bet is probably the afternoon of Sunday the 2nd of August for the big, clean swell, but only for the crew with the skills and the balls. Everything else is a case of watching, waiting, and hoping the wind charts change.

Rusty.

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