Tennis Courts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s coming up for Tennis Courts.

Straight up, the next fortnight is a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s one session that’ll get the heart rate up if you’re an experienced surfer. For now, we’ve got a solid block of northeast trade winds blowing cross-off, keeping the surface clean, but the swell’s coming from the wrong direction. This reef setup (Bali) wants a good south-southeast groundswell to really fire, and for the first week we’re looking at short-period, wind-affected east-northeast energy. The water’s sitting at a warm 81°F, which is pretty average for this time of year—nothing unusual there.

From Saturday afternoon (29 August) right through the rest of the month and into early September, we’ve got chest-to-head high waves—5 ft to 7 ft—but it’s all short-period (7 to 8 seconds) and cross-off winds are strong. The combined energy is moderate (463 to 872), so there’s some push, but it’s lumpy and not really connecting with the break’s optimum direction. Scores are low, and the comments call it poor to marginal. Honestly, not worth paddling out unless you’re desperate for a bumpy session.

Then Wednesday (2 September) throws a curveball. We get a spike of long-period groundswell from the south—16 seconds—but the height drops to 3 ft. A long-period swell like that, coming from the south, is exactly what Tennis Courts wants, and the combined energy is moderate (848). But 3 ft is small, and the wind is still cross-off from the ENE. Thursday and Friday stay in that marginal zone with 5 ft to 6 ft of ENE short-period junk. Still not lining up.

Now, here’s the standout. Saturday, 5 September – the morning has 7 ft of east-northeast swell with an 8-second period, and the combined energy climbs to 847. The afternoon pushes that to 8 ft and 1122, so we’re talking solid, powerful surf. But here’s the catch: this swell direction is still not what the reef wants, and by Sunday the swell is up to 10 ft to 13 ft with a longer period (9 to 11 seconds), and the energy goes through the roof (1783 to 4141). That’s a big groundswell. For a reef like Tennis Courts, a long-period east-northeast swell can break a bit straight, but the power is real. Sunday, 6 September is the best on offer—13 ft of heavy, long-period swell. This is expert territory, no question. The combined energy is very strong (4141). The winds are cross-off, so it’ll be clean, but with 13 ft and that power, this is for experienced chargers only. Beginners and intermediates should stay well clear. The only downside is the swell direction isn’t the optimum south-southeast, but on a day like this, the size and period will make for some memorable, heavy sets.

After that, it drops back quickly. Monday (7 September) through to the end of the period sees smaller, weaker swells—mostly under 3 ft, with longer periods from the south or southwest, but the combined energy drops to weak levels (199 to 418). Winds stay cross-off but lighter. The last few days (12–13 September) have tiny 2 ft to 2 ft swell, and the wind turns cross and cross-on, so it’s a real fizzle.

So, the standout is definitely Sunday, 6 September – huge, long-period groundswell, clean cross-off wind, but strictly for experts. The rest of the window is either small, wrong direction, or both.

Rusty out.

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