The Breakwater-St Ives Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at the surf outlook for The Breakwater-St Ives. It’s a point break, fairly exposed to the swell, and it’s an inconsistent setup, so you’ve gotta pick your moments. Water temps are sitting at 63°, which is pretty bang on normal for this time of year, nothing unusual there.

Right now, there’s nothing doing. The whole thing kicks off on Thursday the 27th of August with a desperate little 0.4m swell from the west, but the wind is offshore and clean in the morning – just tiny, weak energy (20), and it’s labelled as poor surf. Not worth the rubber.

Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th see the swell building, with 1.7m to 2.4m from the west-southwest, and by Saturday morning the combined wave energy is already strong at 541. But here’s the kicker – the wind is howling at 55 km/h out of the southwest, making it a cross-offshore mess. The surf quality is written off as poor. The Saturday afternoon gets up to 3.0m from the west-southwest, but with a 45 km/h westerly crosswind and energy hitting 1631, it’s a raw, lumpy cross-chop. That’s more kite-surfing territory than paddle surfing.

Sunday the 30th stays windy and rough, with 2.2m and 537 energy in the afternoon and a risk of storms. Monday the 31st is no better – 3.0m again but with a strong cross-onshore wind out of the west-northwest making it choppy and horrible.

Then we hit a bit of a gap with nothing worth paddling for from Tuesday the 1st of September right through to at least Thursday the 4th – a few days of small, weak swell and messy winds. The best of the whole forecast actually lands on Saturday the 5th of September. That morning you’ve got 2.3m swell from the west, 8-second period, with a light southwesterly breeze making it clean. The energy is strong at 684, and the comment says “expect very good surf conditions” (score 3). That’s the standout. The afternoon holds 2.1m from the west, fresh offshore from the south-southwest, but the wind picks up heavy at 30 km/h, rating drops to marginal. So get in early.

After that, it’s a mixed bag. Tuesday the 8th of September afternoon turns glassy – wind drops to 5 km/h out of the north, and you get 1.5m from the west with a 10-second period and 453 energy. That’s clean and promising for a session. Wednesday the 9th and Thursday the 10th bring fresh offshore winds from the south, with 1.3m to 1.2m west swell and long 10-11 second periods, offering clean conditions but only a score of 1 or 2. After the 10th, it trails off into small stuff under 1.0m and fading energy.

So, the standout days are Saturday the 5th of September morning for the biggest, cleanest surf, and a solid secondary call on Tuesday the 8th of September afternoon for a glassy, long-period go. The rest is mostly a write-off or marginal – typical for an inconsistent point.

Cheers, Rusty.

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