The Spit Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, grab a coffee and listen up. Rusty here.

The Spit is a river mouth set-up that's exposed to an easterly swell, but honestly, this 16-day run looks pretty bleak. We're staring down the barrel of a long stretch with only marginal conditions. The wave energy is mostly weak, and a lot of the time the wind is just not playing ball. There are few mornings that offer a glimmer, but for the most part, this is a waiting game. The water temperature is sitting at 68°, which is pretty much what you'd expect for this time of year, nothing unusual there.

Right now, and for the next few days, it’s a write-off. The best of a bad bunch looks like Friday morning, August 21st. It's glassy with a light NNE breeze at 3 mph, and the swell is 3ft from the east with a short period of 7 seconds. The combined energy is only 163 (moderate). The waves will be clean but gutless, alright for a beginner on a foamy but nothing to get excited about.

Saturday, August 22nd is clean both morning and afternoon—2ft from the ENE with a light cross-offshore wind at 6 mph, but again, the wave energy drops right off (55-58). Tiny and weak.

There's a long gap of poor conditions after that. Tuesday morning, August 25th, turns glassy again with an early NNE breeze at 3 mph, but the swell is still only 3ft from the ENE with weak energy (99). It's surfable, but ordinary.

Wednesday morning, August 26th, the wind finally goes offshore from the WNW at 9 mph, offering the cleanest conditions of the whole outlook. The waves are 3ft from the ENE, period 8 seconds, and the energy is moderate at 139. This is the standout, but the swell is still small. It's the cleanest window we get.

After that, it's mostly cross-shore and onshore slop, with wind speeds picking up significantly from the south. The energy climbs into the 200s and 300s by the beginning of September, but the wind is terrible—strong cross and cross-onshore winds at 12-19 mph, making for choppy, lumpy, and poor conditions. This stretch looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, to be honest.

Thursday morning, September 3rd, offers a bit of hope. The swell period stretches to 10 seconds, with 3ft from the east, and the energy is moderate at 223, but the wind is still onshore (ESE at 6 mph). It’s a marginal forecast.

Friday morning, September 4th, the wind goes cross-offshore from the NNW at 6 mph, but the swell is down to only 2ft. Clean but tiny.

The final half-decent window is Saturday morning, September 5th, with another cross-offshore breeze from the NNW at 9 mph, and a tiny 2ft wave from the NE.

Overall, if you’re desperate, grab a longboard for the clean glassy mornings on the 21st, 25th, and 26th. But honestly, don't expect much. The 26th is the cleanest of the lot. Otherwise, this forecast is a bust for The Spit. A blank run like this is fairly normal for a finicky river mouth in a lull.

Rusty.

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