Woolgoolga Back Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Well, look, I’ve had a good look at the charts for Woolgoolga Back Beach, and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it—it’s a pretty quiet run ahead. We’ve got a 16-day window, but for the first week and a bit, it’s looking like a whole lot of nothing worth paddling out for.

Right from the get-go, Wednesday the 2nd of September, we’re seeing a tiny 2ft SSE swell with a short 10-second period. The energy’s weak (97), and with a cross-off Northerly breeze, it’s clean but just not enough to get excited about. Honestly, it’s a flat spell.

Things stay locked in that same boring pattern through into the first week. Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th offer similar scraps—hardly a ripple worth your time. The water temp is sitting at a normal 68° here, nothing unusual for this time of year.

It’s not until Monday the 7th of September that we finally see a pulse of life. The morning shows a 3ft SSE swell with a better 10-second period and a light Northerly offshore wind. The energy is moderate (153), and conditions are clean. It’s only surfable, not epic, but it’s the first real chance to get wet in days. The afternoon gets messy with a cross-shore breeze, so the morning window is the one to chase if you’re desperate.

Then we hit a proper gap. From Monday afternoon right through to the end of the second week, it’s a sea of poor surf conditions and ordinary waves. We see a couple of bigger pulses around the 11th and 12th of September, but they’re ruined by strong onshore and cross-onshore winds. On the 11th, there’s a 7ft SSE groundswell with a very long 16-second period—plenty of energy (1878)—but the wind is howling from the south at 25 km/h, making it a choppy, blown-out mess. That kind of long-period swell is better suited for a point break, but here at a beach break it’ll just close out and be unruly. This setup looks like it’d be more fun for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

Now, the one standout that’s worth circling on your calendar is Tuesday the 15th of September. The morning offers a clean 4ft SSE swell with a cross-off Northerly breeze (15 km/h). The energy’s moderate (201), and the conditions are described as “expect good surf conditions.” It’s not massive, but it’s clean and surfable, and for this stretch of coastline, that’s your best bet. The swell direction (SSE) lines up nicely with the optimum direction for the break. The afternoon gets a bit windier, so make it an early one.

Beyond that, the tail end of the forecast is quiet again. Thursday the 17th of September gives us a glassy morning with zero wind and a tiny 2ft S swell, but the energy is weak (87). It’s pretty as a picture but not surfable.

So, the one to aim for is Tuesday the 15th of September, early. Everything else is either too small, too windy, or just ordinary. Keep your eyes peeled though—forecasts change.

Rusty.

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