The Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

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

Right off the bat, I’ll be straight with you – the next few days are a write-off. We’ve got onshore and cross-shore winds, lumpy chop, and a messy northwest swell that’s just not doing us any favours. The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year at 57°, so that’s not the problem. It’s the wind. From Thursday the 20th through to Sunday the 23rd of August, it’s all poor conditions. The swell is small and weak, with combined energy readings stuck between 103 and 411, which is weak to moderate, but it’s all blown out. You’d be better off staying home.

Then we hit a gap – nothing worth paddling out for until the real standout shows up.

The clear winner, and the only session you should be planning for, is Monday morning the 24th of August. The Cove (reef) is going to fire. We’ve got a solid 7ft swell rolling in from the WNW, with a long 11-second period that’s packing proper grunt. The combined energy reading is a thumping 1126, so that’s strong wave energy. And the wind? Glassy. A light SSE breeze – absolute perfection. The water’s still around 57°, but with those conditions you won’t feel a thing. This is excellent surf for experienced surfers. The swell direction lines up nicely with the reef’s optimum from the northwest, so expect clean, well-shaped waves. It’s a fairly consistent spot, but crowds are possible, so get in early.

Monday afternoon sees the wind shift east, turning it cross-shore, and the swell drops to 7ft. It’s still surfable, but the magic is gone.

After that, we’re back into a long, dry spell. Tuesday the 25th through to the end of the month is all poor surf – small, weak energy, and messy winds. The combined energy drops to as low as 34 by early September, so it’s flat and weak. There’s a quick spike on Wednesday the 2nd of September with an 8ft northeast swell, but the period is a short 6-7 seconds and the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, so it’ll be a messy, blown-out wall. Not worth the paddle.

The very last note on Friday the 4th of September shows a 10ft WNW swell with moderate cross-shore wind, but it’s a marginal call at best. That’s big, raw, and lumpy – only for the hardcore crew, and even then, it’s sketchy.

So, bottom line: if you’re keen, you’ve got one golden window – Monday morning the 24th of August at The Cove. Glassy, solid, clean. The rest of the 16 days is a whole lot of nothing. That’s how it goes sometimes.

Rusty.

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