Tennis Courts Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Rusty here, talkin’ about Tennis Courts. This is a neat little reef setup, exposed to the swell, and it’s a tricky one for the experts only. Let’s look at what’s coming.

We’re starting off with a bit of a sleepy period. Saturday the 12th has some small, long-period SW groundswell, only 2ft, but the period is a solid 15 seconds. The water’s sitting at a warm 81°, which is about average for this time of year. The ENE wind is cross-off, so it’ll be clean, making for a few nice, lined-up waves despite the tiny size. The combined wave energy is a modest 370, so not a lot of push. This is a finesse session.

Sunday the 13th and Monday the 14th are pretty flat and poor, so don’t bother. We then see a steady build from Tuesday the 15th through Wednesday the 16th as the swell starts to pulse, with heights creeping up to 3ft and the energy jumping to 806 late Wednesday. Still, the forecast is marginal – the wind stays cross-off, but the waves are just not quite there for a proper session.

Now, hold onto your board. The best of the lot, and it’s hardly a standout, is Friday afternoon on the 18th. The swell jumps to a clean 3ft from the SSW with a period of 17 seconds, pumping the combined energy up to a strong 1060. Conditions are marked as excellent for experienced surfers. The wind from the ENE is a light 9 mph, cross-off, keeping it glassy. This is the pick of the window for a few clean, punchy waves on the reef, but you’ll need to know what you’re doing.

The rest of the run into late September is a mixed bag of small, choppy, or over-sized slop. From the 20th to the 24th, we get a bunch of short-period ENE windswell, around 6ft to 8ft, but the periods are 7 to 9 seconds – just crumbly, weak, and blown out by moderate to fresh cross-off winds. Thursday the 17th sees a 7ft E swell with a 10-second period and a 1395 energy reading, but the wind is howling at 22 mph, making it a messy, powerful beast only for the brave and the strong.

Honestly, for this 16-day run, don’t expect much. The forecast is a long, dry spell of marginal conditions. Friday the 18th is the one bright spot where it all comes together for a short while. For the rest, it’s mostly a kite-surfing show when that wind swell kicks up, ‘cause the wind is cross-off and strong.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the charts, but for now, this stretch is a write-off for anything fun.

Rusty.

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