The Cutting Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the surf for The Cutting over the next couple of weeks. Let’s be straight with you from the jump: if you’re not an experienced surfer, this stretch might be a watch-and-wait kind of deal. The wave energy here is pumping in a big way, but it’s going to be a serious beast for most of the period.

We’ve got a run of solid, powerful SW groundswell hitting us, and the combined energy readings are off the charts – we’re talking values between 1673 and 15977, which is strong to very strong energy. That’s a lot of ocean moving around. The swell is consistently coming from the SW to SSW, with period hanging around 12 to 17 seconds for much of it. That’s proper groundswell, long-period stuff, which is going to mean clean, lined-up waves at this exposed spot, but also some serious size and power.

The best time to get on it – and I mean the absolute standout – is Tuesday 21st July. Tuesday morning is looking primo: a clean, 8ft SW swell at 13 seconds, with a gentle 9 mph offshore breeze from the N. That’s glassy, clean, and the combined energy is a whopping 2036. It’s right in that sweet spot for intermediates and up, but given the crowd can be “sometimes”, you might have some company for those excellent waves. Tuesday afternoon stays good too – 7ft WSW swell, still clean with a 12 mph NNW offshore. That afternoon has a combined energy of 1673.

Now, after that, things get rowdy. From Thursday 23rd July right through to the end of the month, the swell pumps up over 13ft, hitting 18ft by Friday the 24th and again on Wednesday the 29th. The wind turns cross to cross-on, which is going to lump things up. The forecast basically says “too big for this break.” For most of us, that’s a no-go zone – this is strictly big-wave chargers only. If the wind gets messy, and with that much size, I’d even say this setup at The Cutting might actually look more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing during that stormy stretch. For a regular surfer, you’re looking at a blank run from Wednesday 23rd morning all the way through until the end of July, with only a couple of smaller windows.

We get a little breather on Sunday 26th July – it drops back to 8ft SW with a 12 mph cross-off from the WNW. That afternoon session looks clean, with a combined energy of 2873. A solid option for the brave. Then it jumps straight back up.

Looking into the first week of August, we see a little hope. Saturday 1st August brings a 10ft SSW swell with a fresh 22 mph NNE offshore. That’s clean, but still hefty over 8ft – expert territory. After that, the swell fades through Sunday and into Monday the 3rd, but the wind turns to a strong cross-on, and the quality drops badly. By Wednesday 5th August, we’re back to a 10ft SW groundswell with a 9 mph cross-off from the WNW, and it’s clean again. But again, that’s big.

So, for the everyday surfer, the pick of the fortnight is definitely Tuesday 21st July. It’s the only true standout where the conditions line up perfectly for a powerful, rideable swell without it being a complete battlefield. For the rest, it’s a heavy, committed session for the experts only.

Water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing radical to report.

Stay safe out there, keep your wits about you, and don’t get caught inside on the big ones.

Rusty.

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