Westport-The Corner Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight up – this is a challenging 16-day window for Westport-The Corner. The swell hangs around, but the wind and quality are a real struggle. The only consistency is that the surf is rarely clean or well-shaped, so we’re looking at a long stretch of poor to marginal conditions. The combined wave energy is moderate, sitting around 885 (kilo)joules at the start, but it’s a long-period groundswell from the SW at 21 seconds – that’s proper energy but it’s prone to breaking straight on a beach/jetty setup, so it’s not doing us any favours. Water temp is 58°F, about average for the time of year, no big anomaly.

Let’s start on Saturday the 25th of July afternoon. We’ve got 3ft swell from the SW, but a 19 mph southerly cross-onshore wind has it chopped and lumpy. It’s a write-off. Sunday the 26th doesn’t get much better – morning is still cross-onshore and fairly choppy, and the afternoon brings light rain and a brief window of onshore wind, but the surf is marginal at best, with a score that says don’t bother. Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th are a rinse-and-repeat: small 3–3ft SW swell, cross-onshore winds, and poor surf. The only glimmer is Tuesday afternoon when the wind shifts to a light WNW cross-onshore, but it’s still only marginal.

Wednesday the 29th of July sees a small bump to 3ft SW swell, but cross-shore winds from the NW keep a slight chop on it. The combined energy is 846, but the quality is still marginal. Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st are flatlining – 2–3ft SW swell, winds picking up, and the ratings are zero. The first week of August is no different. Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd are small and windy, with the swell dropping to 2ft and a short period of 8 seconds on the 2nd from the WNW – that’s a weak, sloppy windswell. The combined energy is down to 190.

The best of a bad bunch comes on Wednesday the 5th of August. The swell picks up to 5ft from the WNW with a period of 8 seconds, combined energy of 355. That’s the biggest swell in the window, but it’s short-period and the wind is a moderate cross-shore, leaving it choppy. It’s still only poor surf, but if you’re desperate, that’s the one to look at. For beginners, that 5ft is manageable but the choppy conditions won’t be fun. The rest of the second week – Thursday the 6th through to Sunday the 9th – is small, cross-shore winds, and nothing above marginal. The surf just doesn’t come together. Honestly, this is a blank run for the area; it’s not unusual for Westport-The Corner to go through spells like this. Don’t hold your breath. The only thing worth noting is that the long-period SW swells in the first week have real energy, but the beach/jetty break and cross-winds ruin it. If you’re a kite surfer, the windy days might be more interesting than paddling. Rusty.

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