West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve gotta be straight with you – it’s a tough run ahead for West Dale. The next 16 days are looking pretty bleak, with only a few flickers of hope, and even those are a bit of a gamble. There’s a long, dry spell of flatness and poor conditions to start with, so don’t be in a rush to grab your board.

West Dale (West-Dale) is the only spot on the menu, and it's a real cruisy, fairly consistent intermediate wave. It's exposed to the SW, which is its optimum direction, but the wind's just not playing ball. The first week, from Monday the 20th of July right through to nearly the end of the month, is a write-off. We're talking tiny 0.3ft to 0.7ft leftover swell from the SW with a very long-period groundswell of 17-18 seconds, but it's got no power at all – the combined energy is a measly (9-16). The wind is a persistent cross-offshore from the N/NNE, which would normally be a good thing, but with no swell to work with, it's just a waste of a good breeze. You’d be better off catching a wave on a lake.

Things start to look a little more interesting around the 25th of July, but it's not good. The swell bumps up to around 3ft to 3ft from the W, but the period drops to a shocking 5 seconds. That's pure wind chop, and with a cross-onshore wind from the WNW, it's going to be a lumpy, choppy mess. The combined energy is still weak, sitting at (52-60). This is honestly more of a kite-surfing setup than a surfing one.

The first real standout, and I'm using that term loosely, is on Sunday the 26th of July. We get a 6ft WSW groundswell with a 7-second period, which isn't ideal, but it's the biggest we've seen. The combined energy jumps to a moderate (286), and the wind is a clean, cross-offshore from the NNW. It’s still a bit of a gamble, but that morning is your best chance for a few fun, clean waves. It's a bit much for beginners at over 5ft, but intermediates will find something. The crowd factor is "sometimes", so you might have a few mates out, but it won't be packed.

After that, it's a slow fade. The rest of the week and into the first week of August, the swell drops back to the 2ft to 4ft range, with periods around 5-6 seconds. The wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, making for poor, choppy conditions. The combined energy drops back to weak, (22-102). It’s a real grind. There’s a brief moment on Saturday the 1st of August afternoon with a 4ft WSW swell and a combined energy of (102), but it’s straight onshore from the W, so it’s not going to be pretty.

The last few days, from the 2nd to the 4th of August, are more of the same: small, weak, and wind-affected. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

So, to sum it up: if you're desperate, Sunday morning the 26th of July is your best bet. Otherwise, it’s a two-week wait for nothing much. The forecasts can change, but right now, I’d be finding something else to do.

Rusty.

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