Windansea Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, mate, it’s a grim stretch. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with no real surf to speak of. The first half of the outlook is a total bust – from Friday the 31st of July right through to Thursday the 13th of August, it’s all poor surf conditions. That’s a solid two weeks of rubbish. The swell is tiny, mostly around 1 ft to 3 ft, and the wind is never truly offshore in a clean way. Most of the time we’ve got light or gentle breezes coming from the west or southwest, which is onshore or cross-onshore, and that’s just killing any chance of a decent wave.

The only break on the list is Windansea, a reef setup that’s fairly consistent and exposed to the southwest swell. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, nothing weird there. But the swell direction is coming from the SSW or SW, which is right in the optimum window for the spot, so that’s not the problem. The problem is there’s just no energy. The combined swell energy is weak, mostly in the 100 to 300 range (e.g. 617 on Friday the 31st morning, but that’s still only marginal and the wind is onshore).

Even the long-period pulses – we see some 19-second intervals on Friday the 7th of August morning – aren’t doing us any favours. The swell height is still only 2 ft, and the wind is onshore. A groundswell that long needs a decent size to push through, and it’s just not there. That kind of period at a reef like Windansea could be magic if we had the swell, but we don’t.

The only glimmer of hope, and I’m being generous here, is the morning of Friday the 31st of July. The swell is 4 ft from the SSW, with a 14-second period, and the combined energy is 617 – that’s moderate. The wind is light from the west, which is onshore, but it’s a light breeze. It’s still a marginal call, but it’s the best of a bad bunch. That’s about it. After that, it’s a wasteland.

For the rest of the run, the swell stays tiny, and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore. Even the longer-range stuff around the 15th of August morning shows a bit more size (3 ft, SW, 16 seconds) and moderate energy (420), but the wind is still cross-onshore. It’s not going to be clean.

If you’re a kiter, the consistent cross-onshore breezes and small swell might be interesting, but for paddle surfing, this is a total write-off. The forecast is poor for the entire 16-day window. It’s one of those blank runs that just happens here sometimes.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the charts, but for the next two weeks, I’d find something else to do.

Rusty.

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