The Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty. Look, I've had a good hard look at the charts for The Jetty, and I gotta be straight with you – it's a tough stretch. We're staring down a solid 12 days of pretty ordinary conditions before anything even starts to look like a paddle. The first recommendation doesn't pop up until Monday the 17th of August, so we've got a long, flat, or messy run to get through first.

For the first week and a half, from Wednesday the 5th right through to Sunday the 16th, it's a write-off. The swell is tiny, mostly under 3 ft, with a short, weak period around 6 seconds. The combined swell energy is practically non-existent, barely getting into double digits. Winds are mostly cross or cross-on, chopping up what little ripple there is. There's a couple of windows on Sunday the 9th morning and Wednesday the 12th afternoon where it goes clean or even glassy, but with swell heights around 2 ft to 2 ft and bugger-all energy (22 and 18 respectively), there's just nothing to ride. It's a classic winter lull for this spot.

Now, the first glimmer of hope shows up on Monday the 17th of August. For the Monday morning session, we finally see a pulse of 5 ft swell from the S, with the combined energy jumping up to a solid 348 – that's a real kick of moderate wave energy. The period is still short at 7 seconds, so it won't be the cleanest shape, and the light SSE breeze will be cross-on, bringing some small wind ripples. It's flagged as marginal, which means it's there, but you'll be working for it.

The standout, and I mean the only real highlight in this whole 16-day outlook, comes the next day. Tuesday the 18th of August is your best bet. The morning session sees a clean 2 ft swell from the SSE, but the period stretches out to 9 seconds, which gives it a bit more push and shape. The magic is in the wind: a light 9 mph offshore from the NW. That's clean, glassy lines. The combined energy is 65 – not huge, but the quality makes up for it. The afternoon keeps that clean feel with a light cross-offshore breeze from the NE and a 2 ft swell. The Jetty is a beginner sandbar that's fairly consistent, and with the offshore wind, small clean waves, and crowds just "sometimes", this Tuesday morning session is your real chance for a fun, uncrowded paddle on a log or a foamie. This is the one to circle.

After that, the surf fades back into poor, small conditions for the rest of the outlook. Look, the water temp was sitting at 77° at the start, which is a touch warmer than normal for the time of year, so you won't need a thick suit at least.

Stay patient, boys and girls. This stretch is a test, but that Tuesday morning looks like a little reward.

Rusty.

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