Tengan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you—this 16-day window for Tengan is a real mixed bag, and mostly a quiet one. We’ve got a long stretch of flat, junk surf to start, then a couple of days that look interesting for the experienced crew, but nothing that’s going to have the car park full. Let’s run through it.

The first few days are a write-off. From Friday the 21st right through the weekend and into the start of the next week, the swell is tiny—0.7ft to 3ft with short, weak periods. The wind is a pain too, cross-onshore from the SSE and SE, gusting over 18 mph, making it lumpy and messy. The combined energy is pathetic, barely cracking 75 in the early Sunday session. Honestly, it’s not worth paddling out for.

Monday the 24th sees a pulse of longer-period swell (18 seconds) but the energy is still moderate at best (203) and the wind is onshore, so the quality is poor. The swell height is only 1ft in the morning, picking up to 4ft by afternoon, but the conditions are still not clean.

Then we get a brief window. Tuesday the 25th has a solid 10ft swell from the ESE, with a very long period of 17 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 4844 in the morning and 5248 in the afternoon—strong, powerful stuff. But the wind is cross-on and cross-shore, so it’s going to be ragged and choppy on the surface. Only the experienced surfers who don’t mind a bit of wind chop will be into it. This is a beginner’s no-go zone; 10ft is too big for anyone not confident in heavy conditions.

The real standout arrives on Wednesday the 26th. Morning and afternoon both have proper offshore wind from the west, blowing at 12 mph, cleaning up the face beautifully. The swell is 12ft in the morning, dropping to 10ft in the afternoon, from the NNW with a period of 11-12 seconds. Combined energy is strong—3127 and 2110. This is proper groundswell, and for a reef break like Tengan, that long period and offshore wind will create some thick, hollow walls. This is only for the experts, though; 12ft is serious size. The water temperature is sitting around 84°F, which is pretty normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

After that, the plug is pulled. From Thursday the 27th right through to the end of the forecast on the 5th of September, the swell drops back to ankle-to-knee-high (2ft to 5ft), with short, weak periods and mostly onshore or cross-onshore winds. The combined energy mostly sits below 200, and the conditions are consistently poor. There’s nothing worth getting excited about in that second week.

So, to sum it up: the only real shot at a decent wave is Wednesday the 26th of August at Tengan. It’s a standout for the expert crew, with clean offshore wind and a solid, powerful swell. Don’t bother with anything else in this window unless you’re just keen for a swim.

Rusty.

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