The Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s break down what’s coming for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s a real quiet stretch for The Jetty. We’re looking at a long, drawn-out run of small, weak waves and mostly ordinary conditions. The water is sitting at 77°F, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – a real treat if you’re paddling out in boardies.

The first real chance of anything surfable doesn’t come until Friday morning, August 28th. Even then, it’s only 2ft of swell from the ESE with a short 8-second period, so the energy is weak (82). The wind is light and cross-off, so the surface will be clean, but it’s just small and a bit gutless. Not worth getting excited about.

From there, we go into a long, quiet gap. Through the weekend and into the start of September, the swell stays under 2ft, and while the wind is often clean or cross-off, the wave height is just too small to do much with. The Jetty’s a sandbar, fairly exposed to the SE, and the optimum swell direction is SE, so the setup is right, but there just isn’t any size.

There’s a slight bright spot on the morning of Thursday, September 3rd. The swell is still only 1ft from the SE, but the period stretches to 10 seconds and the wind is light and cross-off – clean conditions. The combined energy is weak (62), but it’s surfable. The score is just “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” It’s a small, clean wave for a beginner to mess around on.

By early September, the swell starts to bump up a little, but the wind turns onshore or cross-shore, mostly fresh and lumpy. On Tuesday morning, September 8th, we get 4ft from the SSE with a 6-second period, and the wind is cross-off from the WNW – clean. The combined energy is moderate (116). This is the biggest wave of the whole forecast, but the period is short, so it’s going to be a bit bumpy and weak. It’s still only “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” Tuesday morning is the best of a pretty low bar.

After that, it’s back to small, clean but weak conditions through to the 10th.

If you’re a beginner and just want to get wet on a clean, knee-high wave, the Friday the 28th morning or Thursday the 3rd morning might be your go. For the slightly bigger but still messy Tuesday the 8th morning, it’s for surfers who are comfortable on a short-period, 4ft closeout. Full disclosure: with the swell so small, weak, and the period often short, this setup could be more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer on the windier afternoons.

Bottom line: there’s no standout swell in the next 16 days. The wave energy is weak throughout, and the best you’ll get is a small, clean, but ordinary wave. Keep an eye on the forecasts – things can change.

Rusty.

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