Woolgoolga Back Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – this stretch is shaping up as a patience game. Woolgoolga Back Beach is a beginner-friendly, exposed SE spot that’s fairly consistent, but the first week-plus is mostly a write-off with poor surf conditions. There’s a long gap of flat to tiny, messy waves through to the end of the first week, with nothing worth paddling out for until we hit the second week of September. The water temp is sitting at a pretty standard 68°F, about average for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a thick wetsuit straight away.

Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th of August – forget it. Onshore slop with S/SSE swell around 4ft to 5ft, short 8-10 second periods, and moderate cross-onshore winds making it choppy and ugly. Combined energy is weak to moderate (276-631), but the quality is just poor. Monday the 31st is more of the same – 3-4ft of short-period S/SE swell with onshore wind. Not worth a look.

Tuesday the 1st of September sees a drop in size to a tiny 3ft from the SSE, but we get a rare clean window with a light N cross-off breeze in the morning. It’s surfable but very ordinary – small, weak energy (198). Wednesday the 2nd is similar with 2-2ft and clean conditions, but it’s barely a ripple. The combined energy drops to 106-139. Thursday the 3rd onward through to Monday the 7th of September is a flat spell – swells drop below 2ft and the energy is next to nothing (56-78). A few clean windows but basically no waves.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Tuesday the 8th of September – the swell starts to rebuild with a 6ft SSE pulse, period 12 seconds, and moderate cross-off wind, but the quality is still marginal, and energy ramps up to 804. Not the standout. But Wednesday the 9th of September is the one to circle. Morning brings a glassy, clean 6ft SSE swell with a very long 14-second period. The combined energy is a beefy 1538 – that’s strong wave energy. This is the best on offer: solid groundswell, glassy conditions, and excellent for experienced surfers – it’s too big for beginners at over 5ft. Keep in mind that a long-period swell like this can break a bit straighty on a beach setup, but with the glassy surface, it’ll still be a beauty. Afternoon goes onshore and choppy, so get it early.

Thursday the 10th and Friday the 11th of September see the swell ease to 4-5ft SSE, still with 12-13 second periods, but morning winds are light or cross-off, keeping things clean for Friday morning especially – energy around 530-853. Good waves, but not the standout like Wednesday. By the 12th and 13th, the swell fades back to small 2-3ft and the energy drops off.

In short: sit tight through the first nine days of flatness and slop. The one true standout is the morning of Wednesday the 9th of September – glassy, solid, long-period groundswell at Woolgoolga Back Beach. It’s a promising window for experienced crew. A clean Friday the 11th morn is a decent backup. After that, the run fizzles out. Keep an eye on the forecast, because when it turns on, it turns on.

Rusty.

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