West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Well, lookin’ at the forecast for West Dale over the next 16 days, I gotta say, it’s a bit of a rough stretch. There’s a real long quiet gap at the start, so don’t bother paddlin’ out for a while. The first glimmer of anything surfable comes on Saturday morning, September 5th, but it ain’t much.

We start off Wednesday September 2nd through to Friday September 4th with a strong onshore blow, small-to-modest SW swell but totally wrecked by strong cross-onshore winds. The wave energy on Friday afternoon is moderate (386), but the wind is a straight-up killer. No good.

Saturday morning September 5th is the first, and about the only, real window. The swell drops right down to 3 feet from the WSW with a short, weak period of 8 seconds. The combined energy is weak (120). But the kicker? Glassy conditions – solid 3 mph W wind, just dead calm. It’s clean, tiny, and only for a log or a longboard. We’d be scrapin’ for knee-high dribblers. Water temp is 63°, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year – pleasant enough for a paddle.

After that, we go straight back into the wilderness. Sunday September 6th through Thursday September 10th is another run of onshore trash, lumpy, and blown-out cross-shore chop. Not worth a second look.

Now, hold on. There’s a big lump of swell comin’ for Friday September 11th. We’re talkin’ 10 feet from the W with moderate energy (1067) – that’s solid, heavy stuff. Morning winds are light N at 9 mph and cross-offshore, so it’d be clean. But here’s the catch: the file says it’s predicted to be too big for this break. That’s expert-only territory, and even then, with that size and a short period of 8 seconds, it’ll be a washing machine. The afternoon is similar, light cross-on but still 10 feet. If you’re a big-wave charger, maybe, but for most of us? A hard pass.

From Saturday September 12th onward, it’s back to mediocre – small, messy, cross-shore slop. A few days like Sunday September 13th show a bigger 7 to 8 foot SW swell but with onshore wind, so it’s just a lumpy, bumpy mess. The very end of the forecast, Wednesday September 16th, sees another big pulse of 10 feet SW swell with strong cross-shore wind and blown-out conditions. Wave energy is massive (1206 and 1488), but it’s accompanied by a gale. That’s a kite-surfing setup, not a paddling one.

So, the only standout – if you can call it that – is Saturday morning September 5th. Tiny, glassy, and clean. If you’ve got a log and no expectations, that’s your moment. Everything else is a write-off.

Rusty.

Read more