Watermans Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board, this is Rusty. Let's have a proper look at what's heading our way.

Alright, Watermans is the only game in town for the next couple of weeks, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag, so we’ll need to be patient. The water's sitting at 63°, which is a couple degrees cooler than normal for this time of year, so maybe a thicker spring suit is the call.

We have a quiet start. No decent surf on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week – the swell is there, around 6 ft to 7 ft from the WSW, but the winds are messy, and the conditions are just junk. Then Thursday morning, September 3rd, things suddenly get interesting. We’ve got a glassy morning, and the swell is pushing a solid 8 ft from the WSW with a long 15-second period. The energy is strong (2274), and with that glassy surface, it's going to be excellent and clean. This is a standout for experienced surfers only though – over 8 ft is expert territory, but for those who can handle it, that Thursday morning session is going to be a beauty. The afternoon blows out with strong westerly winds, so it’s a narrow window.

That good spell doesn't last. Friday through to the weekend is a write-off. We get a big jump in size, up to 10 ft and then a windy 13 ft on Saturday, but the wind is howling onshore or cross-on, making it a complete mess. Honestly, with that much wind and swell at a beach-reef setup like Watermans, it’s looking more like a day for the kite surfers than for paddle surfing.

We then wait through a few days of so-so, onshore conditions until we get another real standout on Monday morning, September 7th. It’s glassy again, with a solid 10 ft swell from the WSW and a very long 16-second period. The energy is huge (4136). This is another expert-only window, but if you can get out, the conditions are going to be absolutely stellar. Tuesday the 8th is also a cracker for experts – the swell holds at 10 ft from the WSW with a 16-17 second period, and we get clean, light offshore winds all day. The morning session (5226 energy) is exceptional, and the afternoon is excellent. This is the best on offer in the whole 16 days: a couple of days of clean, heavy, groundswell.

After that, we drop back. The second week sees the swell subside to between 4 ft and 7 ft, but the winds stay messy with a lot of cross-on and cross-shore wind. We get a few cleaner moments with offshore winds on the 9th and the 15th, which will offer some cleaner, albeit smaller, waves for the experienced crew. Look for the morning of September 14th for another glassy dawn patrol with a clean 7 ft swell. Mostly though, the later part of the run is just so-so surf with marginal conditions.

Stay patient for those glassy morning windows, boys and girls.

Rusty.

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