Xa Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here.

For Xa, it’s been a rough run lately. The wind is hammering in from the northeast and north, blowing straight across or onshore at this exposed reef break, making a mess of things. The swell hangs around in the chest-to-head-high range, but it’s short-period windswell, so it’s all lumpy and chopped out. There’s a whole week of poor conditions from Thursday the 6th right through to Sunday the 9th. The combined wave energy builds from 163 to 409, but with those winds, it’s just a washing machine. Not worth paddling out.

We finally get a tiny window on Monday morning, the 10th of August. The wind drops right off and goes glassy, and we’ve got a clean 4ft swell from the east-northeast. The combined energy is moderate at 224, and the water temp is 74°, which is right on average for this time of year. This is the standout – the only shot at something halfway decent. But be warned: it’s a reef break and only for advanced surfers, and it can get crowded. After that, it’s back to the choppy stuff.

Tuesday the 11th sees a jump in swell size with a 7ft southerly swell, but it’s cross-shore with fresh wind and combined energy up to 508. The surf is poor. Wednesday and Thursday remain marginal, with a long-period groundswell from the south-southeast (12-14 seconds). The energy stays high (495 to 578), but the cross-winds and chop ruin it.

The next real chance pops up on Friday afternoon the 14th of August. We get a 5ft southerly swell with light offshore winds from the east-southeast. Combined energy is strong at 742. That’s promising, but it’s a long way out.

The weekend of the 15th-16th brings the biggest swell of the forecast – a solid 6ft southerly groundswell on Saturday morning with an incredible 15-second period and combined energy of 1554. That is serious, powerful swell. But the wind is cross-shore and moderate, and it’s a reef break, so it’ll be a heavy, dangerous wave for experts only. Then Sunday the 16th has 8ft swell from the southeast, which is too big for most, and still onshore chop.

From Monday the 17th through to Friday the 21st, we’re back into that northeast wind pattern with chest-high, short-period slop and poor conditions. Not much to get excited about.

So, if you’re hanging for a wave, your best bet is Monday morning the 10th for that glassy, clean window. Friday the 14th afternoon is another one to keep an eye on. The big groundswell on the 15th is for the brave and the experienced only.

Rusty.

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