Three Peaks Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what the next couple of weeks are serving up for us. I won't lie to you, it's a challenging forecast. We've got a long stretch of pretty poor conditions ahead, with the only real pulse of energy coming in the second week.

The water's running unusually warm right now, sitting at 69°, which is about 8° warmer than you'd normally expect for this time of year. That's a real standout, but it doesn't make the waves any better.

Over the next week, from the 24th through to the 1st of August, it's a real struggle. We're looking at a lot of small, weak swell – typically under 3ft and often much less. The wind is a constant problem, mostly cross-onshore or onshore, which is keeping things choppy and messy. The combined energy is weak, barely getting into double digits most days, so there's just no power in the water. There's a day on Sunday the 26th where the swell bumps up to 5ft from the west, and the energy hits 187, but it's coming with a short period of just 7 seconds and a nasty cross-shore wind. It'll be a bumpy, crumbly mess, not worth your time.

The bright spot in this bleak picture is the morning of Friday the 31st of July. We get a period of glassy conditions with a light easterly wind. The swell is tiny at 2ft from the west with a 5-second period, so there's hardly any power (21 units of combined energy), but it's the only window where you might find a clean, if small, wave. It's the best of a bad bunch.

We then hit a bit of a lull again until the 3rd of August. On Monday the 3rd, the swell picks up to 3ft from the southwest with a period of 8 seconds. The wind is offshore and clean, and the combined energy ticks up to 116. This is the beginning of a more interesting pattern. Tuesday the 4th of August sees the swell building further to 5ft-5ft from the west-southwest, with energy surging into the 240s. It's still a bit onshore and choppy, but there's some real size and push there for the first time.

The standout of the whole period is Tuesday afternoon, the 4th of August. We have a 5ft west-southwest swell with a 7-second period. The combined energy is 240, which is the strongest we see in the whole forecast. The wind is light from the south-southwest, keeping it relatively clean despite being cross-onshore. This is your best bet for finding some proper waves, though the short period means it could be a bit sectiony.

After that, the wind gets ugly again through the 5th and 6th with strong onshores, making it a write-off. The final weekend, the 7th and 8th, offers some modest west-southwest swell around 3ft, but the wind is howling or onshore, so the quality will be poor.

So, to be straight with you, this is a hard forecast. The one to circle is the afternoon of Tuesday, August 4th for the biggest swell of the period, but keep your expectations in check with that wind direction.

Rusty.

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