The Patch Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks at The Patch are looking pretty flat and frustrating for a while. There’s a real dry spell on the cards, so don’t be in a rush to grab your board just yet.

We’re kicking off Tuesday the 11th of August with some weak, short-period swell around 4ft from the WNW, but with onshore and cross-onshore winds it’s just a mess – poor surf conditions. The combined energy is moderate (389) but it’s all chop and no shape. That stays the story right through to Thursday the 13th: waist-high slop, wind-affected, nothing to get excited about.

Friday the 14th sees the swell drop right off to 2ft from the SW, though the period jumps to 15 seconds, which hints at some longer-range energy. Still, it’s marginal, and with only light breezes it’s barely worth a paddle. Saturday the 15th through to Wednesday the 19th keep up that tiny south-swell pulse (2ft to 3ft) with long periods between 14 and 18 seconds. The winds improve at times – we get a few light cross-shore and even some clean, glassy cross-offshore sessions on Sunday the 16th afternoon and Monday the 17th afternoon – but the swell is just too small to do much with. Combined energy sits moderate (300-474) but the height is lacking.

Things start to look a little more promising on Thursday the 20th of August. The morning shows clean conditions with light WNW cross-offshore winds and a tiny 2ft SW groundswell, and it finally says “expect good surf conditions”. It’s small, but if you’re on a longboard or a foiler, that clean morning glass might be your window. The afternoon gets blown out by stronger WNW winds.

Then we hit a bit of a lull again Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd, though Saturday afternoon shapes up with a 4ft WNW swell and a 10-second period under moderate cross-offshore winds – clean surf, but still borderline.

The real standout lands on Monday the 24th of August. An early morning session at The Patch should see 3ft of WNW groundswell with a 11-second period, clean cross-offshore winds from the WNW, and combined energy hitting 440 – solid moderate. That morning is the pick of the whole run for a proper paddle.

Tuesday the 25th morning bumps up a notch: very good surf conditions with 2ft of SW swell at a long 18-second period, combined energy surging to 636 (moderate-to-strong), and light offshore breeze making it clean. The Patch is exposed and this longer-period SW swell might push through nicely, but keep in mind it’s a beach setup, so the long period could make it a bit straight. Still, for a Tuesday morning session that’s worth waking up early for.

Wednesday the 26th follows with another morning standout: 3ft SW swell, 16-second period, combined energy hitting 766 (strong), and cross-offshore winds keeping it clean. That’s excellent potential for a point or reef, but at The Patch it’ll be clean and fun if the tide lines up.

All up, don’t waste fuel on the first week. The best bets are Monday the 24th morning, Tuesday the 25th morning, and Wednesday the 26th morning – those are the only sessions that look truly worth chasing. Water temperature is sitting at 60°F, which is a touch warmer than average for this time of year, so the wettie sting won’t be too brutal.

Rusty.

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