The Fort Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it – the next couple of weeks at The Fort are looking pretty grim overall. We’ve got a long stretch of small, messy, and mostly blown-out conditions. There’s no real stand-out session to get excited about, but let’s walk through it day by day.

Things start off flat and weak. Saturday 4th July has tiny 2ft swell from the southwest in the morning, with a light WSW breeze that’s technically onshore, but the wave energy is weak (238). The water temp is sitting at 54°, which is about average for the time of year – nothing unusual there. It’s a reef break, and with the swell that small and a period of 14 seconds, it’s just not doing anything. The whole first week is a write-off for decent surf. Sunday the 5th sees a bump to 2ft but with a cross-onshore wind making it choppy and messy.

Come Monday 6th, still tiny at 2ft to 2ft, moderate wave energy (463-516), but the wind is either onshore or cross-shore, so no quality. Tuesday 7th actually shows a jump in energy to 1155, with a 5ft swell from the WNW, but the period is only 11 seconds and it’s blown out by a fresh WNW wind. That size is okay for intermediates, but the onshore component kills it. The rest of the week is a mix of moderate cross-shore winds and lumpy conditions with swell heights hovering around 3ft to 7ft, but it’s all plagued by wind. Thursday 9th afternoon has a 7ft WNW swell with a short 8-second period, but a fresh cross-shore breeze and lumpy cross-chop – that’s more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing one.

We do see a tiny glimmer of hope on Saturday 11th morning. The swell drops to 2ft from the SW again, but the wind goes almost glassy – just a slight WSW breeze at 3 mph. Energy is still weak (289), and it’s a marginal call (score 1/10), so don’t expect much, but it’ll be the cleanest the water looks in the whole window. Still, hardly worth paddling out for.

After that, it’s back to the same old story. Sunday 12th through to the end of the 16-day window sees small swell, mostly below 3ft, with moderate to fresh cross-shore winds and onshore tendencies. A couple of afternoons – like Thursday 16th and Tuesday 14th – show some 5ft to 6ft WNW swell, but the period is short (8-9 seconds) and the wind is still cross-shore or onshore, keeping it bumpy and uninviting. The energy does ramp up on Thursday 16th afternoon to 912, but the quality just isn’t there.

Honestly mate, if you’re hanging for a surf, the best you can hope for is the Saturday 11th morning session with clean but tiny waves. Otherwise, this is a 16-day dud for The Fort. A blank run this long is a bit unusual for this spot, but not unheard of – forecasts can change, but right now, it’s looking like a waiting game.

Rusty.

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