Thousand Steps Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let's have a look at what's on the table for the region.

Right now, it's a bit of a slow grind. The first real chance of anything decent isn't really showing up for a while. We've got a long stretch of small, weak, and mostly messy surf from the start. The water is sitting at 70°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that's a nice little bonus when you're sitting out there waiting for a set.

The first few days are pretty flat. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd have tiny waves around 1ft, but the wind is all wrong – it's cross-on, messing up any chance of a clean face. The combined swell energy is weak (130 to 270), so there's just no push. Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th are still marginal, with the same small swell but at least the wind dies down to a whisper. Still, it's not worth paddling out for.

Wednesday the 26th sees a bit of a pulse, with the swell bumping up to 4ft, and the combined energy jumps to 702. That's a moderate pulse, but the wind is still cross-on, so it's a choppy, messy affair. The period is a short 13 seconds, so it's not a proper groundswell that will wrap in cleanly. This one is a pass.

The real interest starts to build as we head into the first week of September. The long-range models are hinting at something promising. On Thursday the 3rd of September, the afternoon session shows a solid 3ft SSW swell, but the period stretches out to a very long 21 seconds. That's a deep water groundswell, and the energy reading jumps to 800. By Friday the 4th of September, we're looking at the standout of the whole forecast. The morning session has 4ft of SSW swell, a period of 19 seconds, and the combined energy rips up to 1203. That's a strong, powerful pulse.

Now, Thousand Steps is a reef break, and it's very consistent. With this long-period, powerful SSW groundswell, it's going to be a proper wave. The only catch is the wind. For that Friday morning, it's forecast as a light cross-on from the south. That's not ideal, but it's a light breeze, so the surface won't be too chopped up. It's an intermediate spot, and with that much energy, it's going to be a solid, challenging wave. Crowds are sometimes an issue here, so you might have a few others with the same idea. This is the best on offer. The afternoon gets a bit windier, so hit the morning session.

After that, the swell holds through the 5th and 6th, still in the 3ft to 4ft range, but the period drops and the wind stays a problem. It stays marginal, but at least there's more swell on the way than we've had for the last two weeks.

Overall, it's a long wait for a short window of quality. The Friday the 4th of September morning is the one to circle. The rest of the period is either flat, gutless, or blown out. It's a classic case of a long-range tease that might just come good.

Rusty.

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