Wategos Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s in store for Wategos over the next couple of weeks. It’s a bit of a wild ride, to be honest.

We’ve got a huge pulse of swell coming through this weekend, but it’s going to be a real handful. Saturday morning the 18th, it’s already 7 ft from the ESE with a 9-second period, and the wind is howling offshore from the S at 25 mph. The combined energy is a solid 690, so there’s plenty of grunt, but those conditions are a battle. By Saturday afternoon, it jumps to 15 ft from the SE with a 10-second period, and the energy skyrockets to 3659 – that’s seriously strong. This is expert-only territory, and even then, it’s going to be a big, raw ocean. The wind is still a strong offshore, but it’s going to be incredibly hard to paddle into. Sunday the 19th is even bigger, with 16 ft SE swell and a 10-second period, energy hitting 5754. The wind is a cross-offshore from the SSE at 25 mph, keeping it clean, but this is for hardcore chargers only. The water temp is around 69°F, which is about average for this time of year.

After that, it slowly drops. Monday the 20th sees 10 ft ESE swell in the morning, energy of 1966, still with a cross-offshore breeze. It’s clean, but still big. By Tuesday the 21st, we’re looking at 7 ft from the E, 10-second period, and the wind drops to 9 mph. It’s still a cross-offshore, and the energy is down to 770. This is the best of the week for a confident surfer, with clean conditions and decent waves. Wednesday morning the 22nd is the last decent day of this run, with 5 ft from the E, and a light cross-offshore wind from the SW at just 3 mph. It’s clean and small.

Then the trough hits. From Wednesday afternoon the 22nd, things drop off a cliff. We’ve got small, weak swell for the rest of the week and into the next. Thursday the 23rd is 3 ft, Friday the 24th is 1.0 ft, and Saturday the 25th is 1 ft. The wind is mostly offshore or cross-offshore, keeping it clean, but there’s just no wave energy. The energy values are all two-digit numbers, like 23, 31, 66 – that’s weak. This flat spell stretches all the way through to the end of July. It’s a proper lull. On Monday the 27th, the period jumps to 12 seconds on a tiny 1.0 ft ESE swell, but it’s still a no-go. Tuesday the 28th has a 15-second period on 1 ft, but the energy is only 102 – it’s a ghost swell.

Now, look at the first of August. That’s the one to circle. Saturday morning the 1st of August, we’ve got 8 ft from the NNE with an 8-second period, and the energy is 691. The wind is a gentle cross-offshore from the SE at 9 mph. The forecast says “expect very good surf conditions.” This is a standout. It’s a solid, punchy size, clean, and the swell direction is coming from the northeast, which is close to the optimum swell direction for Wategos. It’s a bit short-period, but it’s going to be a proper session. That afternoon, it’s still 8 ft but the energy jumps to 1446, though it’s noted as marginal for tide. Sunday the 2nd is still good, with 6 ft from the N, but it’s a step down.

So, to sum it up: no surf worth chasing right now. The weekend is way too big and messy unless you’re an absolute expert. The whole week between the 22nd and the 31st is flat. The standout is Saturday morning, the 1st of August, at Wategos. That’s your window. It’s a few weeks out, so keep an eye on the charts, but it looks promising. Because Wategos is a point break, that long-period energy we saw on the 28th of July would have been better for reefs, but the short-period stuff on the 1st of August will be fine here.

Rusty.

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