Winki Pop Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. We’ve got a solid run of waves coming up at Winki Pop starting this Thursday, 16 July, and it’s the main game in town for the next couple of weeks. The overall pattern is a nice pulse of SW groundswell that peaks early, then eases into smaller but still surfable waves through the middle of the period, with a second pulse of bigger swell arriving right at the end of the month.

The standout window is Thursday morning, 16 July. Swell is a chunky 6 ft from the SSW with a very long 15-second period, and the combined energy is pumping at 1692 (moderate to strong). Winds are a light cross-offshore breeze, so the wave face is clean. This is excellent surf for experienced surfers—big, powerful lines rolling into a reef and point setup, but it’s advanced-level only. The water temp anomaly is about average for the time of year, so nothing unusual there. Crowds are often a factor here, so get in early. The swell direction matches the optimum SW direction.

Later Thursday afternoon drops slightly to 6 ft but the wind swings cross-on, bringing a light chop. It’s still surfable for experienced surfers, but the quality fades.

Friday morning, 17 July, is another beauty. Swell holds at 5 ft from the SW with a 16-second period, and offshore NW winds at 6 mph keep it clean. Combined energy is 1366 (moderate). Friday afternoon turns glassy with 5 ft swell—that’s a real treat for anyone who can get out.

Saturday, 18 July, the swell backs off. Morning has 3 ft SW groundswell, offshore wind, clean but weaker (387 combined energy). Afternoon is tiny at 3 ft and glassy—just ankle to knee-high dribble. From Sunday, 19 July, through to Wednesday, 22 July, the swell remains small, around 2–3 ft, with occasional offshore winds. Combined energy stays under 250 (weak). It’s surfable but ordinary—barely enough to get a proper ride.

A slight bump arrives Thursday morning, 23 July, with 3 ft SW swell and a 13-second period, clean under a light cross-offshore breeze. Not exciting but rideable (208 combined energy). Afternoon picks up to 3 ft with a fresher offshore, still weak.

Then things kick off again on Friday, 24 July. Morning jumps to 5 ft SW with a 15-second period, but the wind is a strong 22 mph offshore—fresh and blowing hard, cleaning the surface but making it gnarly. Combined energy is 1020 (moderate). By afternoon, the swell pumps up to 8 ft from the SW with a 14-second period and a wild combined energy of 3437 (very strong). Wind is 16 mph cross-offshore. These waves are big and powerful—expert territory only, and the strong wind and size will test even the best. The setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing given the strength of the wind.

Saturday, 25 July, the swell eases to 6 ft in the morning (SSW, 15 seconds) but onshore winds and moderate cross-shore chop make it messy (1447 combined energy). Afternoon drops to 5 ft with the same wind problems.

Sunday, 26 July, is still marginal—5–5 ft SSW swell with light cross-shore winds, keeping conditions average.

Finally, Monday, 27 July, into the early week of August shows a recovery. Monday morning has 5 ft SSW swell, a 13-second period, and a clean offshore breeze—decent quality with combined energy of 836. Afternoon stays 5 ft but wind gets more cross-offshore, pushing conditions back to marginal.

Tuesday, 28 July, and Wednesday, 29 July, stay around 3–5 ft, mostly clean but not special. Thursday, 30 July, has 4 ft SW swell in the morning, clean but underwhelming, turning poor in the afternoon with cross-shore wind. The very last entry, Friday morning, 31 July, sees a tiny 3 ft SW swell with a crazy long 17-second period (427 combined energy)—glasslike but barely rideable.

So to sum it up: the standout is Thursday morning, 16 July, for the best combo of size, period, and wind. The second pulse on Friday 24 July offers size but comes with heavy wind and big conditions only for experts. Everything else is smaller and more ordinary, though there are clean windows for a paddle. It’s not a bad run for the area—Winki Pop is fairly consistent, so even the small spells give you something to work with.

Rusty.

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