Tea Break Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let's be honest, the next couple of weeks look pretty bleak for waves along our coast. We're in for a long stretch of lumpy, onshore conditions, and there's not a whole lot of quality on the horizon. We've got a lot of short-period junk and side-shore wind that's going to keep things messy.

From Tuesday the 11th through the weekend, we're looking at weak, wind-blown swell, with wave heights mostly in the 3 to 7 feet range. The wind is mostly cross-shore, which is putting a real chop on the surface and making things tough to surf. The energy in the water is weak too, with readings in the low to mid hundreds. It's just grovelly.

The swell direction is all over the place from the east, which is fine, but with such short periods of 6 to 8 seconds, there's just no power or shape to it. This is more about getting wet rather than getting barrelled. Don't get your hopes up.

There is a slight glimmer of hope around Monday the 17th as the wind eases a touch, but the energy is still just moderate. It's not until Tuesday the 18th that we see a real change. The period jumps up to 12 seconds, which is a proper groundswell, and the energy jumps to 608. That's a big pulse of energy. We're looking at 5 feet of east swell, and with light winds of 9 mph, it should be cleaner than we've seen in a week.

This is the standout. It's a short-lived pulse, with the period dropping back through the day but for that morning, Tea Break should have some real push. The longer period means better shaped waves and more energy. It's a reef break, so it can handle the bigger groundswell well. But don't blink, because it won't last. The days after that just revert back to the same old story of short-period, wind-blown slop. By the 20th and 21st, we're back to small, weak waves, with energy in the low hundreds and periods of 5 seconds. It's pretty grim.

The far end of the outlook, around the 26th, shows a slight bump in size on Wednesday afternoon to 5 feet, but again, the wind is fresh and onshore, which will just ruin it. The water temp is about 84°F, which is about average for this time of year. It's warm and tropical, at least.

To sum it up, this is a poor stretch of surf. If you can be flexible, the one time to look at is Tuesday the 18th, and even that is just a "promising" call from a week out, so don't get too excited yet. For the rest, it's just not worth the paddle out.

Rusty signing off.

Read more