The Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Okay folks, Rusty here. Let's talk about the waves coming up for The Island over the next couple of weeks. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, so let’s break it down day by day, starting with where we’re at right now.

The first few days are looking pretty poor, to be honest. Wednesday the 5th is a write-off with that onshore chop and light rain, and the swell is weak. We’re looking at around 2.5ft on Wednesday morning, and the cross-shore wind is just making it messy. The combined energy is only at 661, so it’s pretty weak out there. Thursday the 6th will clean up a little with some cross-offshore wind in the morning and the swell bumps up to about 4ft, but it’s still not great. The energy is building though, to 919. Thursday afternoon gets a bit bigger at just over 5ft, but that light cross-onshore wind puts a bit of ripple on it.

Things get properly blown out from Friday the 7th through the weekend. We've got a strong cross-shore wind Friday morning, with the swell at about 6ft, but it’s lumpy and poor. The energy is up to 1689, but it doesn't matter if it's all chop. Saturday the 8th is more of the same, with fresh winds and a lumpy 5ft. Then Sunday the 9th is the worst of it, with a near gale-force onshore wind and the swell jumping up to 8ft, then 10ft in the afternoon with a massive energy reading of 7338. That’s a lot of juice, but it’s totally blown out. This is strictly for the well-equipped and the brave, and honestly, it looks more like a kite-surfing day than a surfing day.

Monday the 10th and Tuesday the 11th stay big and messy. We're seeing 8ft to 10ft of swell, but those strong onshore winds are just destroying the surface. The energy is still very strong, with readings of 3767 and 3112 on those days, but it's all just whitewater. Not worth paddling out unless you’re a glutton for punishment. Wednesday the 12th starts to back off a little, but it's still 8ft with onshore wind, keeping things poor.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. The second week is where we see the real standouts. It’s a long way off, so treat this as promising but not set in stone.

Thursday the 13th sees the wind swing around to a light cross-offshore direction. The swell is still solid at about 7.5ft, and with that clean surface, it’s looking like the first decent day of the stretch. The energy is up there at 2696. Friday the 14th is the pick of the whole run, in my book. We’ve got an 8ft SW groundswell, with a period of 18 seconds, and a light offshore wind. The energy reads 3801, and the surface is clean. This is a proper groundswell, and The Island’s a reef, so it should handle that long-period energy really well. This is one for the advanced crew, though, as 8ft on a reef isn't messing around. This is the first real standout.

Saturday the 15th is still good, with about 7ft of swell and a cross-offshore breeze in the morning, so another clean day, just a bit smaller. Sunday the 16th backs off in size down to about 4ft, and while the morning looks clean with that cross-offshore wind, the energy drops off significantly to 730. Monday the 17th is smaller again, around 3.5ft, but has clean conditions all day.

The last few days, Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th, look average. We get another small pulse of energy on the 18th, with 5ft and a long-period of 19 seconds, but the wind and bumpy conditions will likely keep things from being epic. Thursday the 20th has a touch more size at 6ft, but the wind is up again, keeping it average.

So, to sum it up: the first week is mostly junk. The real gems are on Thursday the 14th and Friday the 15th, with Friday 14th being the standout. That’s the one to circle on the calendar. Water temp is a bit cooler than average at 59.4°, so you'll want the full suit.

Alright, that’s the look. Stay stoked, and I’ll catch you out there.

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