Thousand Steps Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty, and here’s how the next couple of weeks are stacking up on the local reef at Thousand Steps.

Right off the bat, it’s a bit of a rough go. Through the end of August and into the first couple of days of September, the surf is pretty lacklustre. There's some small swell around, mostly in the 2 ft to 4 ft range from the south and southwest, but it’s nearly always coming in with a cross-onshore breeze. That means a whole lot of lumpy, choppy water and not many real waves to snag. The energy is all over the place, from a weak 267 up to a moderate 699, but the poor conditions kill it. There’s a long stretch from Monday the 24th of August right through to Sunday the 31st of August with nothing really worth paddling out for – a solid week of dud forecasts. Even Wednesday the 26th of August with the biggest swell of that run at 4 ft is just cross-onshore and messy.

Then things finally start looking up as we roll into September. The standout window is the morning of Tuesday the 1st of September. That morning we get a 4 ft south swell (moderate wave energy at 482), but the key is a clean offshore breeze from the ENE at 12 mph. That’ll put some real order on the lines at Thousand Steps, a very consistent reef break that’s exposed to SW swell. The water is much warmer than normal for this time of year at 74°, which is a nice bonus. It’s an intermediate-level wave, so a bit of know-how helps, but it’s one of the best calls of the whole outlook.

Then on Monday the 7th of September, there’s a real gem. That afternoon, the wind drops to nothing – glassy conditions – and we get a tiny 2 ft swell, but check this out: it’s a long-period 21-second groundswell from the SW. The combined energy is sitting at 556, so there’s plenty of push for that small height. A long-period swell like that will wrap in nicely on the reef and produce some clean, well-shaped waves, even though the size is small. This one’s for the patient surfer who likes quality over quantity.

For the rest of the first week of September, there are a few other marginal days with clean-ish winds, like the afternoon of Tuesday the 1st and a couple of mornings, but nothing that really jumps out as a must-surf session. The second week from the 4th onward looks mostly cross-onshore and choppy again, with small swell in the 3 ft to 4 ft range. Keep an eye on the 7th of September afternoon – that’s the hidden treasure in this forecast, but long-range calls always come with a bit of uncertainty.

That’s the lay of the land. Stay keen, keep an eye on the wind, and I’ll see you out there.

- Rusty

Read more