West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at West Dale. It’s a bit of a tough stretch ahead, I’m not gonna lie to ya. This spot is exposed to the southwest swell, and it’s supposed to be a fairly consistent break, but the whole 16-day window is stubbornly pumping out poor surf conditions. The water’s sittin’ around 63°, which is pretty normal for this time of the year, nothing wild there.

From Tuesday the 18th right through the rest of August, and even into the first few days of September, it’s just one messy report after another. The swell is small, mostly hanging between 1.0 ft and 4 ft, with short-period windswell around 5 to 8 seconds – that’s weak, jumbled up stuff. The wind is mostly cross, cross-on, or onshore, coming in from the W, NW, and sometimes N, with speeds around 12 to 19 mph. It’s a chop factory.

You get a few moments towards the end of August where the wind shifts to a light offshore or glassy (like the morning of the 24th), but the swell is tiny – just 1.0 ft – and the wave energy is weak. Not worth paddling out for. Even when the swell bumps up a bit in late August and early September, the wind just gets stronger, turning it into messy, blown-out junk.

The one thing that catches the eye is the morning of September 1st. That’s a big jump: a 10 ft swell coming from the WSW, with a period of 8 seconds, and the combined energy cranking up to 1067. That’s some serious power. But here’s the problem – the wind is howling from the NNW at 25 mph, making it a messy cross-shore. That amount of swell is only for experienced surfers anyway, and with that wind, it’s gonna be a real war zone out there. The afternoon drops to 8 ft, still heavy, but the wind stays strong out of the NNW. For a beachbreak like this, a long-period groundswell would be better, but this is short-period windswell meaning it’ll be lumpy and hard to ride. I’d honestly say the setup on September 1st looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Honestly mate, there’s no standout session in this whole forecast. It’s a long, dry run with pretty much nothing worth getting wet for. Occasionally it stays poor for a while around here, but forecasts can shift – keep an eye on it, but don’t hold your breath.

Rusty.

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