West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a seat and let me, Rusty, give you the straight-up story on West Dale for the next couple of weeks. I've had a good look at what's coming and, honestly, it’s a rough start. We're looking at a long stretch of nothing special before we might finally catch a break.

The whole outlook is pretty grim to begin with. There’s a solid gap of over a week where you’d be wasting your time. The swell is there sometimes, but the wind is just relentless. For most of the run, it's cross-onshore or straight onshore, and it's strong. You’ll see a lot of fresh breezes, and even a near gale on the 20th. The energy is mostly moderate, but it's all just messy and blown out. It’s the kind of setup that would be more interesting for a kite surfer than someone with a paddle, especially with the bigger days.

We’ve got a few days around the 15th and 16th where the swell is around 3ft to 5ft from the west, but it’s all wind-affected. The period is short, around 5 to 7 seconds, so it’s weak and choppy. There’s a spike of energy on the 19th, with a 7ft west-southwest swell, but the wind is a fresh 22 mph cross-onshore. That’s a recipe for lumpy, poor conditions, not a day for the average punter.

Even when we get some decent swell size, like the 12ft west-southwest swell on the 20th, it's accompanied by a near gale cross-onshore. That is expert-only territory, and even then, it'll be a battle. The water temp anomaly isn't given, so we'll say it's just doing its thing for this time of year.

Now, let’s talk about the only glimmer of hope. It’s a long way off, but hold on. On Monday, September 28th, things might finally change. The wind is set to swing offshore from the east at a light 6 mph. That is clean. The swell drops off to 3ft from the west-southwest with an 8-second period. The energy is weak, so don't expect power, but it's the only time we see the word "clean". It’s described as surfable but very ordinary. Still, after two weeks of trash, a clean 3ft wave is the standout by a long shot. It’s a long way out, so don’t hold your breath, but mark your calendar.

So, to sum it up: the next ten days are a write-off. You’ve got a long gap of poor to awful conditions. The only real chance for a surf is that Monday the 28th, and even then, it’s small and weak, but at least it’ll be clean. The crowds at West Dale can be an issue sometimes, but with conditions like this, you’ll likely have it to yourself.

Stay salty,
Rusty

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