The Bowl Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a proper look at what’s cookin’. We’ve got a solid window of clean, surfable waves on the way, but you’ve got to pick your moments. The Bowl is an advanced reef break that needs the right conditions, and when it lights up, it's special.

We kick off Wednesday morning, July 8th. Bright and early, it’s looking like the best of the run. Swell is a clean 4 ft from the west, with a period of 9 seconds. The wind is a light cross-off at 6 mph from the WSW, and the water is clean. Combined energy is sitting at 225, which is moderate. Water temp is about average for this time of year, no surprises there. This is your one true standout for the whole period – you’d be mad to miss it. The Bowl is exposed to the west, and with the wind doing the right thing, it’s going to offer up some real quality.

Thursday morning, July 9th, is also decent. We’ve got 4 ft west swell, light cross-off from the SW at just 3 mph, and it’s clean. Combined energy is 262. Not quite the peak of Wednesday morning, but still a solid session.

Things start to turn ordinary from Friday the 10th. The wind shifts onshore and stays there for a long, frustrating stretch. From Friday through to Saturday the 18th, it’s mostly poor to flat. There’s a brief blip on Sunday morning, July 12th – glassy conditions with a tiny 3 ft swell, but the energy is weak at 85. Very ordinary. The whole week leading up to the 14th is a write-off.

Now, there’s a second window that’s worth a mention. Tuesday morning, July 14th, brings a clean 3 ft swell from the west-northwest, a long 11-second period, and cross-off wind from the ESE at 6 mph. The combined energy is 261 – moderate. That’s a nice day, but it’s not quite the quality of that first Wednesday. The long period means the waves will have some energy, but at a reef break, the sets will be a bit more spaced out. After Tuesday afternoon, the size drops off fast and conditions turn marginal again.

We then hit a massive blank run from the 16th right through to the 22nd. There’s a big pulse of swell on the 20th and 21st, with 5 ft to 8 ft west swell, but the wind is onshore or cross-on and the conditions are poor. The 21st sees combined energy climb to 1136 – that’s strong to very strong energy – but with onshore winds and poor quality, it’s a messy, dangerous beast. That’s strictly for the experts only, and even then, it won't be fun. The setup might actually be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on those days.

So to wrap it up: Wednesday morning, July 8th, at The Bowl is your absolute standout. Get in the water. The rest of the period is mostly a waiting game, with a short, decent session possible on Tuesday the 14th. After that, it’s a long gap of poor conditions until we see anything surfable again.

Rusty.

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