Windang Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are a mixed bag around Windang Island, and there’s a long quiet stretch in the middle that’ll test your patience. We’ve got a couple of moments that might get the heart rate up, but you’ll need to pick your windows carefully.

We kick off on Wednesday, 26 August, with a bit of a letdown. The morning brings a meek 3ft swell from the NE with a short 8-second period. The water’s sitting at 64°, which is about average for this time of year. The wind is a cross-off at 12 mph, keeping things clean, but the combined energy is only 138 – that’s weak. By the afternoon it jumps to 5ft from the S, but the wind swings onshore and we get a moderate cross-shore chop. Not worth the rubber.

Thursday the 27th shows a bit more life. The morning swell hits 6ft from the S with a period of 9 seconds and combined energy climbing to 560 (moderate energy). The wind is light and cross, which cleans it up a touch, but the marginal surf comment says it all – tide might mess with the setup. The afternoon drops back to 5ft from the S with an onshore breeze. Probably a session for the keen only.

Friday the 28th is the one to circle. The early morning looks promising: 5ft from the SSE with a period of 11 seconds (starting to get some longer-period groundswell) and combined energy of 601 (moderate energy). Winds are light and cross, so the surface should be tidy. A reef and point break like Windang Island can really juice up a longer-period swell like that, drawing out the lines. The afternoon gets a bit chopped with a cross-on breeze, so hit it early. For the experienced crew, this is the standout of the first week.

From Saturday the 29th, the swell backs off into the 3ft to 4ft range, and the energy drops into the 200–300s. Winds are mostly cross-on or onshore, with a bit of chop. It’s marginal and not really worth the paddle. This fading trend continues into the start of September.

The real killer is the gap that follows. From Monday, 31 August right through to Saturday, 5 September, we barely scrape 2ft and the combined energy sinks to the low double-digits – as low as 26. That’s a week of flatness or close to it, with only the odd clean but tiny 1ft glassy moment in the afternoons. Not surfable in any meaningful way.

Then, on Sunday, 6 September, there’s a sudden spike: 7ft from the S with a short 7-second period and combined energy of 455. But it’s a bit of a brute – short period, onshore winds in the morning, and jumping to 6ft in the afternoon – not clean, not formed. More of a messy, lumpy setup that might be better suited to the kite crew than a surfboard. After that it’s back to small dross for the next few days, with another bump on Tuesday, 8 September in the afternoon: 8ft from the NE but paired with a strong 25 mph cross-off wind and combined energy of 706. That’s a lot of juice, but the strong breeze and short period make it a wild, expert-only affair. Not pretty.

All in all, your best bet is Friday morning, 28 August. Get out there early for clean, longer-period waves at Windang Island. The rest of the window is either too small, too messy, or too far out to trust yet. Keep an eye on the long-range – forecasts can shift.

Rusty.

Read more