36th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve gotta be straight with ya – the next 16 days at 36th Street are looking pretty grim. There’s no real swell on the cards, and what little shows up is mostly wind-affected and messy. It’s a tough run for a beach/jetty setup that’s fairly exposed to the swell, but without any solid energy pushing in, you’re gonna be chasing shadows.

The water temp is sitting at 77°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least it’ll be comfortable while you’re sitting there waiting for something that never comes.

We kick off Friday afternoon, 7th August, with a tiny 3 ft S swell, but it’s a short 4-second period and the wind’s a cross-on 16 mph from the SSW – just choppy, poor surf. Saturday’s similar with 2 ft S swell and cross-shore wind, still poor. Sunday morning sees a brief shift to a glassy, clean 0.3 ft E swell, but that’s flat, not surfable. The whole first week is a write-off: tiny heights, short periods, and mostly cross-onshore or cross-off winds that keep the surface messy. There’s a few glassy moments on the 12th, 13th, and 14th mornings, but with swell barely reaching 0.3 ft, it’s just flat and clean.

We hit a bit of a gap here – from the 7th right through to the 20th August, there’s nothing worth paddling out for. The energy readings are all in the single digits and low double digits (combined energy 3 to 58), which is weak to very weak. Not a single standout.

Finally, on Thursday 20th August, we get a bit of a tease. The morning brings a 2 ft SE swell with a 8-second period, and the wind is a clean cross-off from the WSW at 9 mph. The afternoon gets even better with an offshore 9 mph WNW breeze, also clean. Combined energy hits 66 and 68 – still moderate, but at least the conditions are surfable. The waves are very ordinary, but if you’re desperate and the wind holds, you might get a few grovelly ones. It’s not a standout, just the best of a bad lot.

Then Friday 21st August sees a slight bump in swell to 3 ft and 4 ft from the S, but it’s short period (5 seconds) and cross-onshore wind, so it’s just choppy and poor again. The combined energy reaches 103 and 112, which is moderate, but the wind ruins it. After that, Saturday 22nd drops back to 1 ft and poor conditions.

So, honestly, there’s no standout session here. The only real window is Thursday 20th August, with clean, offshore winds and a tiny, rideable swell. Don’t expect much, but if you’re keen, that’s your best bet. The rest of the run is a flat, choppy mess. Rusty signing off.

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