The Spit Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the menu for the next couple of weeks. I'm not gonna lie to you, it's a pretty ordinary stretch for The Spit. We've got a lot of time ahead, but the quality just isn't lining up.

We kick off on Wednesday the 19th of August, and straight away it's a bit of a struggle. The swell is there at about 4ft coming out of the ESE, but the wind is blowing a stiff 16 mph from the southeast, putting a nasty cross-onshore chop on top. The water temp is sitting around 68°, so pretty normal for this time of year. The energy is weak, registering only 241, and the wave period is short at 7 seconds. It's just not doing anything for us.

Thursday the 20th is more of the same – wind drops slightly but stays onshore, making for more messy conditions. We see a bit of a break on Friday morning the 21st. The swell drops to 3ft from the east, and the wind goes glassy with a light 3 mph from the northeast. The combined energy is a weak 163. It’s surfable, and the glassy surface is a big plus, but the swell is tiny and pretty ordinary. It’s a small window before the breeze picks up again that afternoon.

Saturday the 22nd brings a bit of clean surf early with the wind going light cross-offshore from the northwest and waves at 3ft. It’s clean enough for a paddle, but again, the energy is very low (76). The same story repeats for Sunday and Monday mornings – glassy conditions on the 23rd and 24th with tiny 3ft waves from the ENE. You can get wet, but it’s not going to be memorable.

From there it gets worse. The wind strengthens again, and through the end of August and into the first week of September, we have a long stretch of poor surf with consistent cross-onshore winds and choppy, messy waves. There are a few days around the 25th and 26th where the wind swings offshore from the WNW, making the water clean, but the swell is still only around 3ft to 3ft. The energy is moderate (118 and 111) but the conditions are just not making the most of it.

Now, looking way ahead to the 2nd of September, the computer models are hinting at something. Wednesday the 2nd shows a jump in swell to 6ft from the SSE. The energy suddenly spikes to a strong 904, which is a massive jump. The catch is, it's mostly during light rain and onshore winds that morning, making it hard to get excited. But the raw power is there – that's a real groundswell with a period around 10 seconds. If the wind doesn't cooperate, it's a miss, but this one has some potential if it cleans up.

So, overall? The first week is a write-off with tiny, weak, messy surf. The only real standout on the horizon is that little window on Wednesday the 2nd of September. The swell size (6ft) matches up with a decent SSE direction, and it packs a lot of punch. It might be a bit much for beginners, and it will be one for the more experienced crew to sniff out. But it’s our best bet. Don't hold your breath for anything else.

Rusty.

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