Wonthaggi Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s see what we’ve got for Wonthaggi. The next 16 days are a real mixed bag. There’s a nasty patch of weather and swell early on that’s gonna be a write-off, but if you’re patient, there’s a window late in the run that looks proper. The water temp here is about average for the time of year, so nothing weird there.

We kick off Tuesday, July 21st, with a 5ft swell from the WSW, but the wind is cross and the energy is moderate (963). It’s a marginal call at best – not worth paddling out for. Wednesday and Thursday are a total mess: onshore winds, building swell into the 10-12ft range, and the energy is ramping up through the roof (up to 4302), but it’s all blown out and rain-lashed. That’s kite-surfing territory, not paddle surfing. The whole weekend, from Friday the 24th through Sunday the 26th, is the same story: solid 10ft+ swell, but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore and strong. The energy is huge (over 6000 at times), but the surf quality is poor. Absolute no-go.

Monday the 27th sees the swell dropping a bit, but it’s still cross-onshore and choppy. The energy is moderate (1139). Not worth a look.

Now, here’s the standout. Tuesday the 29th of July starts to show some promise. The wind swings to a cross-shore from the NNW, and we’ve got a solid 10ft swell from the SW with a very long period of 16 seconds. That’s groundswell. The energy is strong (8295 in the afternoon). The surf is still a bit lumpy from the wind, but it’s on the improve. The real gem is Thursday the 30th of July. The wind turns cross-offshore from the N, light to moderate, and the swell sits at 8-8ft from the SW, period 15 seconds. The energy is still strong (3619), and the conditions are clean. This is your best bet for an experienced surfer – the swell is over 8ft, so it’s expert-only, but the shape on that long-period SW groundswell with clean conditions will be something special. The break is Wonthaggi itself, a fairly exposed spot that handles SW swell, but because it’s a beach break, that long period might make it a bit straight – still, the quality is excellent.

Then into Friday the 31st, the wind goes light and cross-off, the swell drops to 5-8ft, and it’s clean again. The energy is moderate (1463-2326). This is a great session for a wider range of surfers, as the swell is under 8ft. Saturday the 1st of August looks glassy in the afternoon with a 6ft SW swell – that’s a dreamy window. The energy is low-moderate (942), but the wind is glassy, so the waves will be super clean.

After that, the wind cranks up again on Sunday the 2nd, and the swell fades, so the run ends. The gap before the good stuff is a full week of poor conditions from the 21st to the 28th. Patience is the key.

Rusty.

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