Turtles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’m gonna level with you straight up – the next 16 days at Turtles are a real mixed bag, and honesty, mostly a frustrating one. We get some serious size rolling in, but the wind is just a nightmare for most of it. The water temp is sitting right on 71°, which is bang on average for this time of year, so no complaints there.

Let’s start with what’s on the table. The first few days are a write-off. The swell shows up, but it’s all cross-on shore winds making a mess of things. We’ve got solid energy, like on Wednesday the 16th afternoon with 6ft SW swell and a combined energy of 1233, but that fresh cross-onshore wind just kills it. Thursday and Friday are much the same story – lumpy, choppy, poor conditions.

Then we get to Saturday the 19th. The swell kicks up proper – 10ft from the WSW with a period of 15 seconds, and the combined energy is a massive 4374 in the morning. But mate, the wind is still cross-shore, and it’s a “moderate cross-shore with a cross-chop.” It’s marginal at best, and it's big. 10ft is expert territory only, and with that cross-chop, it’s gonna be a battle.

Now, Sunday the 20th morning is where we get our first real glimpse. We’ve got 8ft SW swell (period 13 seconds) and a combined energy of 1932. The wind is cross-offshore from the SSE, and the report says “clean.” That’s the first genuinely clean surf window. It’s still a decent size, maybe a bit much for beginners, but for the crew who can handle it, that’s your window.

We then hit another dry spell. Monday through the end of the week is back to cross and cross-on winds, lumpy and choppy. There’s energy there, but it’s not worth paddling out for.

But hold on, because we’ve got a couple of standouts in the second week. Friday the 25th morning – wait, that’s more than a week away, on September 25th. The swell is 4ft from the WSW, but the period is a very long 21 seconds, and the combined energy is 2501. The wind is cross-shore, and it’s “moderate cross-shore with a cross-chop.” That long period means it’s gonna be powerful, but that cross-chop might make it tricky at a reef. It’s marginal, but the energy is there.

The real highlight for the entire forecast is Wednesday the 30th morning. We’ve got a solid 8ft SW swell, with a very long period of 17 seconds, and a combined energy of 3630. The wind is a gentle cross-offshore from the SSE, and the report says “clean.” That is the best looking window of the whole 16 days. That’s proper groundswell, clean conditions, and a decent size. For advanced surfers, that is the day to circle on the calendar. It’s a long way out, so keep an eye on it, but it’s the one.

Overall, there’s plenty of swell energy coming through, but the wind just won’t play ball for most of it. The consistency of the break itself is “fairly consistent,” so it’s not like the waves aren’t gonna be there, they just won’t be clean. The pick of the bunch is that Wednesday the 30th morning session.

Rusty.

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