West Dale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for West Dale over the next couple of weeks. Gotta be straight with you – it’s a pretty grim stretch. The forecast is showing a whole lot of “poor surf conditions” right through, with virtually no scores worth gettin’ worked up about. There’s no standout session, no real window of quality. The first real chance of anything surfable doesn’t even pop up until Sunday the 30th of August, and even then it’s a struggle. That’s over a week of flat, messy, or wind-affected junk.

For the first few days, we’re lookin’ at tiny swell. Thursday the 20th sees a 3 ft swell from the WSW, but with a stiff 21 mph north wind, it’s just cross-off and choppy. Wave energy is moderate at best (167), and it’s a write-off. Friday and Saturday the 21st and 22nd are even smaller – 2 ft to 1 ft – with periods that are all over the place. There’s a long-period 15-second groundswell on Saturday morning, but it’s only 1 ft, so you’re not gettin’ a wave to ride. The energy is weak (55 to 86), and the wind is cross or cross-off.

Sunday the 23rd has a brief moment of clean conditions with a gentle offshore from the NE in the morning, but the swell is a pathetic 1 ft. You’d be paddling for nothing. That run of tiny, weak swell and poor conditions continues all the way through to the end of the month. The water temp is about 63°F, which is pretty normal for this time of year, so that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.

Now, we get a flicker of hope on Sunday the 30th of August. The afternoon shows a 3 ft swell from the SW, with a light 6 mph east wind keeping it cross-off and clean. The rating is a measly 1/10, but they’re callin’ it “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions”. The energy is weak (60). It’s the only day in the whole run that isn’t a total zero. It’s not good, but it’s the best we’ve got.

Things get a little spicy in the second week, but not in a good way. On Saturday the 29th of August, we get a big jump in swell – 8 ft from the WSW on Saturday morning, with a heap of energy (636). But the wind is a horrible 19 mph westerly, cross-on and lumpy. That’s blown out, messy, and the period is only 8 seconds. It’s a powerful, ugly mix that’s more for the kites than paddlers. Then on Thursday the 3rd of September, we see another big pulse: 7 ft to 8 ft from the SW, with energy climbing to 670. Again, the wind is a near-gale from the SSW and W, making it a total blowout. That’s expert-only, and even then, it’s not gonna be pretty.

So, bottom line: there is no good surf on offer in this 16-day window. The blank run is real. Conditions are poor, winds are bad, and the swell is either too small or too messy. The only day that even qualifies as surfable is the 30th of August, and it’s a real one-star kinda day. Keep your board in the car and your hopes low, because the forecasts are all we’ve got, and they ain’t sayin’ much.

Rusty.

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