West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty, and I've been staring at the charts for West Dale. Let's be honest, this is a tough one to call. The whole 16-day window is a bit of a struggle, with the surf quality consistently poor and the scores reflecting that. We're looking at a long, quiet patch with very few windows worth paddling for.

The water temp is sitting around 63°F, which is about average for the time of year, so no surprises there.

The first real hope, if you can call it that, might be a tiny window around the 27th of August. On Thursday morning, the swell picks up a bit to 4ft from the WSW, but the period is a short 6 seconds, so it'll be weak and wonky. The wind is SE, 16 mph, a cross-off, keeping things clean, but the wave energy is moderate at 152. Still, it's labelled as poor surf conditions. Not a standout.

Honestly, the most consistent thing here is the lack of quality. The swell stays tiny, often under 2ft, and when it does get a little pulse, the wind is usually onshore, cross-shore, or just messy. The best wind conditions we see are a few clean, offshore mornings, but with swell heights barely reaching 1.0ft, you're looking at a lake. For example, on the 23rd of August, Sunday morning, the wind is NE, 9 mph, offshore, but the swell is only 1.0ft from the SW. It's clean, but there's nothing to ride. The energy is below 40.

There are a couple of afternoons, like the 30th of August, where the swell bumps up to 5ft from the WSW, but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, creating choppy, blown-out conditions. The period is short, 7 seconds, so it's just a messy, bumpy ocean. The energy is 197, which is moderate, but it's not surfable.

The only thing that comes close to a recommendation is the very end of the forecast. On the 31st of August, Monday morning, there's a 4ft WSW swell with a light SW wind, 6 mph, onshore. It's labelled as "marginal" with a score of 1 out of 10, and the energy is 205. It's not good, but it's the only thing that's not a total zero. The period is 9 seconds, which is a bit better. But honestly, with the wind onshore and the swell quality poor, I'd save my energy.

For the first week of September, the pattern repeats. The 3rd of September has a bigger pulse of 4ft from the WSW, but with a strong SSE wind at 25 mph, creating a messy cross-chop. The energy is high at 321, but it's all wind and chop. Not for paddle surfing.

Overall, this is a blank run. The swell is too small, the wind is too often wrong, and the quality is consistently poor. It's one of those periods where the forecast can change, and it tends not to stay this bad for long, but right now, there's nothing to get excited about. West Dale is a reef break that's fairly consistent, but even consistency can't save it when the ocean just isn't playing ball.

Rusty.

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