Wategos Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve got to be straight with you – we’re staring down a pretty grim 16-day run for surf up at Wategos. The forecast is a long stretch of small, weak swells with barely any energy behind them, and the winds are just not cooperating for most of it. It’s one of those periods where you might be better off doing a bit of maintenance on your board or just catching up on sleep.

We kick off on Friday the 28th of August. The morning has a tiny 2ft swell rolling in from the ENE with a short, weak 8-second period, and the combined energy is a pathetic 45 – that’s weak, mate. The wind is offshore from the south at 9 mph, so it’s clean, but the waves are just too small and gutless to really ride. By the afternoon, it’s cross-offshore and even smaller at 2ft. The whole day is a write-off.

Saturday the 29th doesn’t get any better. Slight improvement in the morning with a 2ft swell from the east and a 9-second period, but the energy is still terrible at 58. The wind is offshore from the SSW at 9 mph, so it’s clean, but the wave comment says it all: “surfable but very ordinary.” It’s a struggle.

Sunday the 30th sees the swell drop to 2ft from the east. The wind is offshore from the south at 12 mph, but the waves are just poor. Monday the 31st is more of the same – 1ft waves, offshore wind, but the energy falls to 30. There’s nothing to get excited about.

There’s a brief, tiny flicker of hope on Wednesday the 2nd of September. The morning brings the best conditions we’ll see in this outlook. The swell is still small at 2ft from the ENE, but the period extends to 10 seconds, and the combined energy finally cracks triple digits at 107, which is at least moderate. The wind is glassy, coming from the NNW at just 3 mph. That means the surface will be like a mirror, and for a brief moment, it’s as clean as it gets. But here’s the catch: the waves are still small and the forecast still calls it “very ordinary.” If you’re desperate for a paddle and can find a rolling ankle-snapper, go for it, but don’t expect much.

After that, it turns into a long, drawn-out nightmare. From Thursday the 3rd of September, the swell direction swings around to the north, and the wind turns onshore or cross-onshore for a solid week. By the 6th of September, the swell hits 4ft from the north with a short, messy 6-second period, and the energy jumps to 206 (moderate), but the wind is blowing onshore at 18 mph from the north, making it a complete mess. It’s not surfable for a paddle board; it’s more of a kite-surfing set-up if anything.

The run continues like this, with small, weak, or wind-affected waves, all the way through to the 12th of September. The last few days from the 8th to the 12th are tiny, with swells between 0.6ft and 3ft, and the energy drops back to single digits or low double digits. The best you can say is that the winds are often cross-offshore or offshore, keeping it clean, but there’s just no power in the water to work with.

The water temp at the start of the period is 69°, which is about 0.9° cooler than average for the time of year – nothing unusual there, feels pretty normal.

So, to be blunt, there are no standouts here. The only hint of a surfable session is that Wednesday morning, and even that is a stretch. We’re looking at roughly a week and a half of near-nothingness from the 3rd of September onwards. It’s a tough stretch for Byron Bay. Just wait it out, mate. The forecasts can change, but right now, this one’s a bust.

Rusty.

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