Udo Shrine Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks at Udo Shrine are a proper mixed bag, and you’re gonna have to pick your moment. There’s a long stretch of nothing early on, then one legit window that’s worth circling on the calendar, and a wild finish that’s more for spectators than surfers.

The first few days are a write-off. Sunday the 16th through Wednesday the 19th are all poor, with waves under 3ft and cross/onshore breezes messing things up. It’s a real flat spell, five or six days of just groveling or sitting on the beach. The energy is weak too, with combined swell readings around 60 to 187, so there’s not much to get excited about. The water’s a warm 83.3°, which is spot on for this time of year, but that doesn’t help the waves.

We get a bit of juice from Thursday the 20th, but the wind is still cross-onshore, and it’s stormy. Swell bumps up to 4ft to 5.5ft, but it’s short-period, around 9-10 seconds, and lumpy as anything. The energy’s climbing into the moderate range – 387 to 650 – but it’s not doing us any favors. This continues through the weekend and into Monday the 24th. The swell starts to build that day, hitting 5ft to 5.5ft from the ESE with a long 16-second period, but the morning’s still cross-shore and messy. The afternoon cleans up a bit though, with the wind swinging cross-offshore, and you can feel something shifting.

Now for the standout. Tuesday the 25th is your day. The morning is glassy, dead calm, with a solid 7.5ft swell from the ESE at a long 16 seconds. The combined energy is at a strong 2705, and it’s clean. This is a proper groundswell, the kind that puts some push behind the wave. The afternoon is just as good, with the swell nudging up to 8ft and the energy jumping to 3316, still glassy. This is the best on offer, no question. It’s sizeable though – over 7.5ft is pushing it for anyone who isn’t solid on their board. This is for the experienced crew. Also, this is a south-facing reef, so this ESE swell is coming from the right direction, hitting the spot properly. It’s an inconsistent break though, so don’t expect a wave every minute, but when they come, they’ll be worth it. Expect crowds, too – this spot’s often busy, and on a day like this, everyone will be out.

Wednesday the 26th, the swell hangs around 8ft but the wind turns cross-onshore out of the NE, making it choppy and less appealing. It’s still sizable, but the quality drops. Then things go a bit chaotic. Thursday the 27th, we get a big jump in size – 10ft to 11.5ft – but it’s accompanied by a fresh 19-22 mph cross-onshore wind. That’s lumpy, bumpy, and pretty much unsurfable for most. The energy is very strong (4782 to 6144), but it’s just messy.

Then Friday the 28th gets wild. We’re talking a severe gale with winds at 47-50 mph and a solid 16ft swell. That’s not surfing, that’s a survival mission. And the energy is off the charts at 11102.

Saturday the 29th is the big one, but not in a good way for paddling. The swell is predicted at 33ft to 38ft, with gale-force winds early. The energy reading is insane at 50540 to 65779 – that’s just a mountain of water. While the wind and tide are favorable in the afternoon (moderate offshore and clean), the sheer size makes it only for the most extreme chargers, and honestly, for a reef, this is pushing way past limits. It’s a day to watch from the cliff, not be in the water.

After that, it drops back down into the 6.5ft to 8ft range, but the wind is back onshore and it’s choppy through Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st. The energy’s fading from 2001 down to 656, so it's a sloppy end to the period. All in all, Tuesday the 25th is your window – make the most of it, because the rest of the fortnight is either flat, messy, or too big.

Catch you in the water.

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