The Inlet and Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. I’ve been eyeballing the charts for The Inlet and Pier, and I gotta be straight with you: it’s a barren wasteland for the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a proper flat spell that will test your patience, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel if you’re willing to wait it out.

Water temp is pretty much normal for this time of year, so you won’t need anything special for a paddle. But the surf is the problem. Right now, through the rest of August, there is nothing but tiny, weak dribble. For days on end, the swell is under a foot-and-a-half, meaning under 0.5m, and it’s just not breaking with any power. The energy levels are in the tank—we’re talking low teen and twenties for most of this week. Winds are light, which is good for the surface, but it’s like a lake out there. We’ll see some storms, but they don’t help. Saturday the 22nd brings a small bump to 0.8m, but it’s a short, weak 5-second wind swell. It’s not worth the effort. Sunday the 23rd is slightly better, with 1.0m out of the southwest and offshore winds making it look clean, but it’s still weak and gutless. It might be waist-high and soft. You could get a few ankle-biters, but it’s not a day to get excited about.

Then it goes flat again. Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th are back to zero. We’re talking a full week-plus of nothing. Midweek, from the 26th, we see some long-period energy start to show, but it’s still tiny—only 0.4m. The period jumps to 15-16 seconds, which is a lot of energy but in a wave that’s too small to ride. The wind stays cross and a bit breezy, so it won’t even be clean. This just keeps tormenting us for a few more days. By the 29th and 30th, it's still small, with breezes that are cross-offshore, a little better, but still nothing rideable.

Then on Monday the 31st, things finally change. We’ve got a proper pulse: 1.7m out of the east with a 6-second period, and the energy is at 225. That’s the first real swell of the entire window. The wind is light and cross-offshore in the morning, making it clean. This is the only standout we have—you need to be out there early because the afternoon wind builds to 20 km/h from the south and puts a chop on it. At 1.7m, that’s around chest high. It’s a short period, east swell, which isn’t the perfect direction for this spot—it likes NE—but it’s the only real surf we’ll see. The morning session on the 31st is the one to circle. After that, it drops back down to 0.8m on Tuesday the 1st, which is just ordinary. Then it looks like it fades again.

So, bottom line: after all that waiting, the only real window is the morning of Monday the 31st. It won’t be perfect, but it’s the best we’re going to get for a long time. Rusty, signing off.

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