Winki Pop Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Let’s talk about what’s coming up at Winki Pop, a reef and point setup that’s advanced territory. The water temperature is sitting at about 58°, which is pretty normal for this time of year, nothing out of the ordinary there.

The first real chance for a surf kicks off on Monday, July 6th in the morning. We’ve got a small but clean 4ft SW swell wrapping in with a solid 14-second period – that’s proper groundswell energy. The wind is a light northerly, cross-offshore, so it’ll be tidy. The combined energy is moderate (769). Not huge, but for a point break like this, that long period will push in some nice lines.

That same Monday arvo, the swell drops a touch to 4ft with the same 14-second period, but the wind swings east and becomes cross-on, stirring up a few ripples, so the morning is definitely the pick.

Tuesday, July 7th is the standout of the whole run. The morning brings 4ft of SW groundswell – period stretching to 17 seconds, which is very long. Combined energy is moderate (679), but here’s the kicker: the wind is glassy – dead calm – with a NNE breeze at just 3 mph. That’s as clean as it gets. For an advanced reef and point, this is about as good as it’ll look at this size, just smooth, long lines. The Tuesday arvo gets a light onshore, so the window is narrow. Crowds are “often” here, so expect company.

Wednesday, July 8th has a similar sized swell (4ft) but the period jumps to 18 seconds – even longer – and combined energy bumps up to 1394, which is still moderate. The morning wind is light and cross-shore from the NE, so it’s rideable but not glassy like Tuesday. Still, that long period means the wave quality will be there.

From Thursday, July 9th onward, the swell drops into the 3ft to 4ft range with periods between 15 and 16 seconds. The wind stays light and mostly favourable – offshore or glassy at times – so some clean sessions are possible, especially Thursday arvo with glassy conditions and a 3ft SW swell (366 combined energy), and Friday morning with a 4ft SW swell and cross-off wind (726 combined energy). Nothing epic, but workable.

Saturday, July 11th and Sunday, July 12th see a real drop-off – swell down to 1ft to 2ft, and though the wind is offshore, the combined energy is weak (175 or less). Not worth paddling out for.

Then we get a bit of a pick-up starting Monday, July 13th arvo with 4ft (664), and then Tuesday, July 14th morning brings 7ft SSW swell at a 15-second period, combined energy 1758 (moderate-strong). The wind is cross-off from the WSW at 12 mph, so it’ll be clean but punchy. That’s a solid, powerful wave – for advanced surfers, that’s a good call, but at 7ft it’s pushing into expert territory.

Wednesday, July 15th morning is another one to circle: 7ft SSW at 16 seconds, combined energy 2397 (strong), with a light cross-off westerly. That’s a lot of juice, clean, with long-period lines – but that’s for the experienced crew only. The arvo turns ugly with 12ft and a strong cross-on wind from the SSW – messy and only for the brave (or crazy).

After that, from Thursday, July 16th onwards, the swell backs off steadily, dropping from 7ft to under 3ft by the following week, with mostly onshore or cross-on winds. A few mornings have light offshore breezes in the second week (like Saturday and Sunday, July 18th and 19th), but the swell is tiny (3ft to 3ft) and the period drops under 13 seconds. Those are just marginal, small-wave days.

Overall, the real standout is Tuesday morning, July 7th – glassy, long-period groundswell, clean lines. The next best is Monday morning, July 6th and Wednesday morning, July 8th. The bigger stuff from July 14th to 15th is for experts only and comes with stronger wind, so not the same quality.

Rusty.

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