The Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer at The Cove over the next couple of weeks.

Well, I’m gonna be straight with you – this is a tough stretch. The surf forecast is pretty much a write-off for the entire 16-day window. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with no real swell to speak of. The wave energy is tiny, barely registering, and the conditions are mostly messy. It’s one of those periods where you’re better off leaving the boards in the car.

Starting off on Thursday the 20th, we’ve got a bit of a nothing burger. Swell is a pathetic 0.7 ft out of the East with a short, weak period of 8 seconds. The combined energy is a measly 13 – that’s barely a ripple. To make matters worse, we’ve got a risk of thunderstorms and a cross-onshore wind from the SE at 15 km/h, making it choppy. Not worth paddling out for.

Friday the 21st is much the same story. The morning offers a brief window of cleaner conditions with a light cross-offshore breeze from the SSW at 10 km/h, but the swell is still only 0.7 ft. The afternoon goes back to the same messy, cross-onshore chop. Saturday morning the 22nd sees a glassy surface with no wind, which is a tease, but the swell is still a flat 0.7 ft and 9 seconds of energy. It’s a cruel joke.

The pattern continues day after day. We get a tiny bump to 2 ft on Sunday the 23rd, but the period drops to a pathetic 4 seconds – that’s pure wind chop, not a wave you can ride. The energy is only 20. The wind is cross-onshore, and there’s a risk of thunderstorms. The same story repeats on Monday the 24th, Tuesday the 25th, and Wednesday the 26th. It’s all small, weak, and blown out.

On Thursday the 27th, the swell direction swings to the NE with a longer period of 16 seconds, but the height is still only 0.3 ft. The energy ticks up to 24, but it’s not enough to do anything with. The wind is still cross-onshore and onshore, making it a no-go.

The rest of the run into early September is more of the same. We see a slight increase to 3 ft on the 1st of September with a 5-second period, and the energy climbs to 44, but it’s still a tiny, weak swell. The wind is cross-offshore on the morning of the 1st, which is clean, but the swell is too small to ride. By the 4th of September, the energy finally gets up to 94 with a 3 ft NE swell, but the period is still only 8 seconds, and the afternoon sees onshore winds crushing any hope.

The water temperature on the 20th is 87°, which is about 1° warmer than normal for this time of year. Nothing too unusual there.

Honestly, there is no standout session here. The only tiny flicker of hope is the morning of the 1st of September with that clean, cross-offshore wind, but the swell is just too small. If you’re a beginner, you’re safe – it’s never too big. For everyone else, this is a total bust. With the swell being this weak and the wind inconsistent, this setup might look more interesting for a kite session than a paddle session, if you’re into that.

Stay patient, folks. The surf will come back.

Rusty.

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