Tea Break Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Hey everyone, Rusty here. Let's be straight – we've got one spot on the radar for the next 16 days: Tea Break. It's a consistent reef break that's exposed to the swell, and the optimum direction is from the NNE. The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year.

Right now though, it's a tough watch. From Friday the 21st right through to the start of September, the predominant east wind is blowing cross-shore to cross-onshore, messing up what could be a fun wave. We're looking at small, weak east swells, mostly around 3 ft to 5 ft, with short periods of 5 to 8 seconds. A lot of the time the combined energy is weak to moderate – you'll see figures like (145) or (77) – and the report is calling it "poor surf conditions." It's just not worth paddling out.

There is a bit of a shift as we head into the last week of August. The swell bumps up, especially around Wednesday the 26th afternoon when we see 6.6 ft from the east with a period of 6 seconds and moderate energy (325). Then the 27th keeps things going with 5 ft to 4.6 ft and longer 8-second periods, pushing the energy into the moderate to strong range (312 and 359). But that damn east wind is still blowing 12 to 19 mph, keeping a lumpy cross-chop on the surface. It's going to be a bumpy, challenging paddle for not much reward.

The one day that catches my eye is Monday the 31st of August. The morning window shows 6.2 ft east swell, an 8-second period, and a big jump in combined energy – we're talking (605) – strong to very strong wave energy. The wind is a moderate 12 mph cross-shore. That's the closest we get to a "standout," but it's only rated as "marginal" because of tide or something, and the cross-wind will still be there. It's a glimmer of hope in a long 16-day forecast that is mostly blown out. For a reef like Tea Break, we really need lighter winds. As it stands, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing for most of this stretch.

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