Turners Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a good, hard look at what’s on the menu for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, I’m looking at this run and feeling a bit flat. The first ten days or so are a real struggle. We’ve got a long stretch of weak, short-period windswell that just doesn’t have the beans to stand up to anything. The water’s sitting at 68°F, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

The first real glimmer of hope doesn’t pop up until later in the run. Let’s dig into the details.

The opening week is a write-off. From Thursday the 20th right through to the end of the month, the story is the same: persistent NE to ENE winds, mostly cross or cross-onshore, chopping up a tiny, weak swell. The combined energy is stuck in the double digits or low triple digits (like 251 to 72), which is a dead giveaway – there’s no power in the water. The swell height barely cracks 3ft to 5ft, and with a period of just 7 seconds, it’s all windswell. It’s the kind of surf that’s more frustrating than fun. There’s a brief moment on Sunday the 23rd morning with a clean cross-off wind, but the swell is still tiny at 3ft. It’s surfable, but you’d be scratching for a wave.

Turners Beach is the only spot on the cards, and it’s a sheltered beginner’s break that’s very consistent, but even it can’t make silk out of a sow’s ear here. The optimum swell direction is from the SE, and we’re getting a persistent ENE, which doesn’t help.

Things start to look a little more interesting towards the end of the first week of September. The standout window is Tuesday, September 3rd, morning. We’ve got a very clean set-up: glassy conditions with a light SW wind, a 3ft swell from the E at 8 seconds. The combined energy is a moderate 185, which is at least moving in the right direction. It’s not going to be pumping, but it’ll be the cleanest, most rideable surf of the whole outlook. The afternoon on the 3rd and the morning of the 4th also look clean, but the swell drops off a bit more.

For the rest of the run, it’s a waiting game. There’s a pulse of bigger swell showing on the 31st of August, with an 12ft swell from the ENE, but it’s accompanied by a messy cross-onshore breeze and a very high combined energy of 1471. That’s a lot of power, but with the wrong wind and a short period, it’s going to be a lumpy, blown-out mess. That’s a kite boarder’s session, not a surfer’s.

So, bottom line: Keep your expectations low. The best bet is the glassy morning of Tuesday, September 3rd at Turners Beach. It won’t be epic, but it’ll be the most fun you’ll have in this stretch. The rest is a lot of waiting for something that doesn’t quite come together.

Rusty.

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