The Wreck Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Looking at this stretch, it’s a bit of a mixed bag at The Wreck. We’ve got a slow, messy start, but there are a couple of proper windows that’ll have you checking your board and wax.

The water’s sitting at 14°, which is a solid 3° colder than normal for this time of year – that’s a real shock to the system, so you’ll want the thickest wetsuit you’ve got.

Tuesday, September 15th kicks things off with a clean 1.6m easterly swell, but it’s only fair-to-middling. The morning looks okay with a light cross-off wind, but it’s not exactly firing. The afternoon drops off a touch and gets a bit iffy.

Wednesday, September 16th is where the first real stand-out sits. Overnight, a solid 2.5m south-west groundswell rolls in, with a 14-second period and a nice westerly offshore blowing. This is proper groundswell – lots of energy behind it, and the offshore wind is going to have it looking glassy and lined up. This is the pick of the first week for anyone with a bit of experience. The afternoon stays good size-wise, but a cross-shore breeze messes with the surface a little.

Then the wheels fall off. Thursday, September 17th through Monday, September 21st is a write-off. We’re on a strong cross-onshore wind that’s chopping everything up. Friday afternoon even sees it jump to a lumpy 3.0m, but it’s junky, onshore slop – not what you want. There’s a tiny reprieve on Saturday afternoon with glassy conditions and a clean 2.1m, but it’s short-lived, and Sunday gets messy again. This whole stretch is a no-go for clean surfing.

We get a quiet couple of days on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd, with small, choppy waves – the swell drops right down to around 1.0m. It’s not worth paddling out for.

The next real standout is on Thursday, September 24th, and this one’s a doozy. The morning is still a bit rough, but the afternoon swings around with a 2.4m SSW swell, a 14-second period, and a clean offshore wind. This is another quality window – proper clean lines, good power, and the wind is holding off the shore. This is the second big highlight of the run, right up there with the 16th.

Friday, September 25th starts clean offshore with 2.2m, but that wind picks up hard out of the west in the afternoon, getting up to 40 km/h and just tearing the surface apart. Saturday the 26th is a bit on-and-off – a couple of clean ones in the morning and afternoon with a solid 2.4m to 3.0m SSW swell, but the energy is a touch more disorganized.

Then Sunday, September 27th through Monday, September 28th sees it chop out again. Strong cross-onshore winds and lumpy conditions – another gap in quality.

Finally, we get a sweet little finisher on Tuesday, September 29th. It’s a bit smaller at 2.1m, but it’s clean with a cross-off breeze, and the swell direction shifts to the SE. It’s not the biggest day, but it’s clean and rideable. The following Wednesday, September 30th drops right off to 1.1m with a clean offshore – a nice, cruisy end to the period, but not a standout.

So, to wrap it up: the big two to pencil in are Wednesday the 16th and Thursday afternoon the 24th. Both have solid groundswell, clean offshore wind, and good energy. Everything else in between is mostly a battle with the wind or just too small. The Wreck is fairly consistent, so it’s not like it stays flat forever, but the quality definitely comes in waves. Keep your eye on those two days. Get amongst it when it’s clean, and sit it out when the cross-onshore blows.

Rusty.

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