West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what’s on the table for West Dale.

Alright, mate, I’m gonna be straight with you: the next two weeks are a tough watch for waves at West Dale. We’ve got a long run of poor surf conditions, and it’s not until the very end of the forecast window that we see something serious. The water temp is sitting at 63°F right now, which is about average for this time of year, so no wild surprises there.

For the first ten days, from Monday the 10th all the way through to Thursday the 20th, it’s a desert. The swell is tiny, mostly under 3 ft, with short periods and weak energy. The combined energy readings are mostly two-digit numbers, like 25, 7, 9, 86 – that’s weak stuff. The wind is all over the place, cross, cross-off, even onshore, but the waves are just too small and messy to bother with. Every single session in that stretch is rated as poor surf conditions. You’d be wasting your time.

Then we get a bit of a tease on Friday the 21st. The morning goes glassy, with a 3 ft swell from the west, period of 5 seconds, and energy at 84. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. The afternoon turns into a mess with 5 ft onshore slop. Not worth getting excited about.

Now, the standout. Saturday the 22nd of August. The morning brings a solid 10 ft swell from the west, period of 7 seconds, and the combined energy is a massive 865. That’s strong wave energy. The wind is cross-off from the north at 19 mph, and the forecast says it’s clean. Hold up, though – 10 ft is big, too big for beginners, and really only for experienced surfers. The period is short, so it’ll be a bit dumpy and powerful, not a long, rolling groundswell. This is a serious, heavy day. The crowd profile says “sometimes,” so you might have some company. This is the one true standout in the whole outlook, but it’s a full week away, so the long-range call is less certain.

After that, the swell drops off quickly. Sunday the 23rd is back to small, clean but weak, and Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th are just small, ordinary waves. Nothing to plan a trip around.

So, to sum it up: you’ve got a long, dry gap of almost two weeks, then one big, powerful day on the 22nd that could be epic for the experienced crew. Keep an eye on that one.

Rusty.

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