The Heads Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what we’ve got on the cards.

Right off the bat, we’re in for a bit of a wait. The surf kicks off on Tuesday morning, the 21st, at The Heads, a sandbar break that’s fairly consistent and takes a south-southeast swell best. The water’s sitting at 64°, which is about normal for this time of year – nothing weird going on there.

Tuesday morning the 21st is the first real window. We’re looking at a solid 6ft swell from the SSW, with a long 14-second period, pumping a heap of energy into the break – the combined energy reading is 1809, so we’ve got some proper grunt behind it. The wind is dead calm, glassy as a mirror, so the surface will be like silk. This is excellent for experienced surfers, because that size and power is going to be a handful for beginners. The set-up looks clean and solid.

Wednesday the 22nd and Thursday the 23rd have a bit of size, around 7ft, but the wind swings around cross or cross-off, so it’s not quite as pristine. Thursday morning the 23rd is the pick of those two with a clean cross-off breeze and 7ft from the SW at 12 seconds – still good, but the Tuesday morning window is the standout early on.

Friday the 24th is where things get serious, but not in a friendly way. We’ve got an 12ft swell from the SSW, with a very long 16-second period, and an energy reading of 6831 – that’s a lot of water moving. This is for experts only, and even then, a beach break like this can turn into a washing machine. The wind is light cross-shore in the morning, but the sheer size makes it a “big boys only” call.

Saturday the 25th drops back to 8ft, still solid, but winds are light and cross, so it’s not the cleanest. Consistency is okay.

Then we get a nice little run. Sunday the 26th morning has an offshore breeze from the NNW, with 7ft SW swell at 12 seconds – clean and fun. But the real gem pops up Sunday afternoon: glassy conditions, 7ft, same solid SW groundswell. That’s a session to pencil in.

The following week has a few interesting spots. Tuesday the 28th morning is back up to 10ft SSW, long 14-second period, and glassy again – but it’s big, so it’s expert territory. Then on Friday the 31st, we get a sneaky good day: morning is 6ft from the SSW with a very long 18-second period, glassy, excellent for experienced surfers. The afternoon is even better – 8ft from the SW, 16-second period, dead calm, glassy. That Friday afternoon the 31st is the other standout of the whole outlook. Clean, powerful, good direction.

Into the first week of August, things start to taper off. Sunday the 2nd has a 10ft swell with offshore winds in the morning, but it’s big and the period is dropping to 11 seconds. After that, Monday and Tuesday drop in size and quality, with energy falling below 700, and winds getting messy. By the 4th and 5th, it’s looking small and poor, with fresh cross-shore winds and lumpy conditions. Not worth paddling out for.

Oh, and a note on crowds: The Heads can get a bit busy sometimes, so if you’re heading out on one of the cleaner days, expect company.

So to wrap it up: The clear standout is Tuesday morning the 21st – glassy, clean, 6ft groundswell with tons of energy. The other absolute gem is Friday afternoon the 31st – glassy, 8ft, long period, and clean. Those are the two to make plans around.

Rusty.

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