The Heads Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what we’ve got coming in.

Well, we’re starting off with a bit of a heavy start at The Heads. Wednesday afternoon you’re looking at a solid 8ft SW swell, but with a cross wind and some chop making things pretty average. The combined energy is a massive 4316 (very strong wave energy), and water temp is sitting at a typical 62° for this time of year. Not exactly screaming at me to get in the water yet.

Thursday morning sees the swell jump to 10ft from the SSW, period a nice 14 seconds, but wind is light cross so we get a little ripple on the surface. Still, that’s not the cleanest. The energy readings are still high. By Thursday afternoon, it stays around 10ft but goes cross-on with more wind ripples.

Friday is where things start to look decent. Morning session on Friday, July 10th, we get a clean 10ft SSW swell with a cross-off wind from the NW at just 3 mph, making it really clean. That’s a standout for experienced folks only – it’s big, but clean. Then Friday afternoon turns glassy, SSE wind at 3 mph, same 10ft SSW groundswell. That’s your best window in the first week: clean, big, all for the skilled crew. Combined energy still very high (2601-3130).

Saturday and Sunday the swell drops a touch. Saturday morning is 8ft SSW but with cross wind from the east, not as good. Sunday morning is 5ft and clean with a cross-off, so that’s okay for intermediates.

Monday and Tuesday of the second week drop off a bit, with smaller swells, shorter periods, and wind picking up. Monday afternoon has a 15 mph cross wind, messy. Tuesday is just small.

Now Wednesday 15th July morning the swell drops to 4ft, glassy conditions, making it decent for a small wave session. But not a standout.

Thursday July 16th? Forget it. Strong 18 mph cross winds and lumpy 8ft swell. Not surfable.

Friday 17th the swell comes back up to 7ft SW with a 12-second period, but cross winds start creeping in again.

Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th are clean with light offshore and glassy conditions, swell around 4-5ft. That’s good for a relaxed paddle. Sunday afternoon especially is glassy with a nice 5ft SW swell. That’s promising for a fun, clean session.

Then we get into the third week-ish. Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st are messy with cross winds, but Tuesday afternoon swell hits 10ft SSW with a 14-second period: more big swell but still messy.

The big news is Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd July – huge SSW swells of 12ft with periods as long as 16 seconds. This is very long period groundswell, which will be breaking very straight at The Heads, so it’s a paddle-out for experts only. Combined energy is through the roof (over 5000). The mornings are clean, with light winds, but honestly, this break is not handling that kind of size well, especially with a beach/sandbar setup. Might be more of a kite session for the brave.

So, the standout in the whole run is Friday July 10th afternoon: glassy, 10ft SSW groundswell, clean. That’s a session for the experienced. And then Sunday 19th afternoon: glassy, 5ft, clean – that’s the one for the rest of us.

No real long-range gold here – the big stuff at the end is promising but just too big for The Heads.

Rusty.

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