The Wharf Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s break down what’s coming up for The Wharf over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be straight with you – it’s a tough run ahead. The wind is gonna be a persistent problem, and the conditions are looking messy for most of the period.

The Wharf is a reef break that needs a clean window to show its best, and it’s just not getting one for a while. The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

We kick off on Tuesday, the 28th of July. There’s a solid 4ft to 4ft of SW groundswell rolling in with a very long 16-second period, giving some nice energy (combined energy of all swells directed here is 1078). But the wind is a cross-on from the SSE at 12 mph, dropping to 9 mph in the afternoon. It’s choppy and marginal, with a risk of thunderstorms. Honestly, it’s not worth paddling out for.

Wednesday the 29th is worse. The swell drops to 3ft, still from the SW with a 14-second period, but the wind howls up to 22 mph from the SSE. That’s fresh cross-onshore and lumpy – poor surf conditions. Score is a zero. Same for Thursday and Friday, the 30th and 31st, with SE wind at 22 mph and short-period, choppy, wind-affected junk. The swell goes a bit side-shore from the SE, but there’s no quality in it.

Saturday the 1st of August sees a slight change. The wind swings more onshore from the ESE at 16 mph in the morning, dropping to 12 mph in the afternoon. Swell is 5ft to 4ft from the SE, period 10 seconds. Still poor though – the wind is on it, so don’t expect much.

Now, Sunday the 2nd of August is the closest thing to a standout in this whole forecast. The morning is clear, with a light ESE breeze of only 3 mph – that’s glassy! The swell is 4ft from the SSE with a 12-second period. The combined energy is 497, so moderate. It’s still marginal due to tide, but that light wind means it could be clean for a few hours. The Wharf is consistent, and crowds are sometimes an issue, but early morning might be your best bet. This is the one to aim for if you can. Afternoon goes back to a 9 mph cross-on, so the window is tight.

The rest of the first week into the second week is a write-off. Monday the 3rd through Tuesday the 4th sees small, weak swell and cross-onshore winds. Then Wednesday the 5th of August through to the end of the forecast period is dominated by strong SE winds, often 19 to 31 mph, with lumpy, messy, blown-out conditions. There’s a big pulse of swell on the 6th of August – 7ft from the SSE with a 12-second period, and combined energy of 1609 – but the wind is howling at 19-22 mph cross-onshore. It’s going to be a washing machine. By the 10th of August, the swell hits 10ft, but with 22 mph winds, that’s only for experts and even then, it’s a mess.

The 11th of August has a very long period SW swell of 16 seconds at 5ft to 5ft, with strong energy (2080), but again, strong cross-onshore winds. It’s frustrating because the swell is there, but the wind just won’t cooperate.

So, to sum it up: the only real window is the morning of Sunday, the 2nd of August. Get out early for a chance at some clean, 4ft SSE groundswell with light winds. The rest of the 16 days is a battle against the wind. If you’re a kitesurfer, this setup might actually be more interesting than for paddle surfing, especially from the 5th of August onwards when the wind and swell pick up.

Hang in there, folks. It’s a rough patch, but it won’t last forever.

Rusty.

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