Yonabaru Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the next couple of weeks. To be honest, it’s a tough stretch – a real lean run for decent waves. The first week and a half is basically a write-off, with hardly anything worth getting wet for. The only faint glimmer comes towards the end of the second week, so don’t be in a rush.

Looking at Yonabaru as the only spot on offer, it’s a beginner-friendly break, fairly consistent, exposed to swell from the east and northeast. Water temp is about average for this time of year, nothing to write home about. The combined swell energy (242) late Wednesday morning is moderate, but the surf is poor – cross-onshore winds and small, messy wind ripples. That’s the story for the next six days straight: Wednesday the 16th through to Monday the 21st, we’ve got persistent cross-onshore or cross-shore breezes, sometimes picking up to a moderate breeze, with tiny swell heights around 2 ft to 3 ft, and periods mostly short between 9 and 15 seconds. The energy climbs a bit on the 19th afternoon (381), but it’s still poor, with a moderate cross-shore chop. Honestly, not a single session worth paddling out for.

Sunday morning the 20th sees a bump in swell to 6 ft from the east, with a 13-second period (groundswell), and the combined energy jumps to (1112). That sounds promising, but the wind is a cross-shore moderate breeze, and the forecast calls it marginal. The long period at a beach break like Yonabaru means it’ll likely break too straight, and with cross-shore winds, it won’t be clean. Sunday afternoon and Monday are similar, but the breeze gets stronger, making it messy. Tuesday the 22nd improves a little with cleaner conditions (cross-offshore), but the swell drops back to 2 ft-3 ft, not enough to get excited about.

The only real standout, and I mean the *only* one in this whole 16-day window, is Wednesday the 23rd of September. Early morning there’s glassy conditions – dead calm, no wind – and a small 3 ft swell from the north, short period of 7 seconds. The combined energy is weak (107), and the waves are surfable but very ordinary. But hey, glassy is glassy. For a beginner spot, that’s about as good as it gets around here with the crap we’ve had. Expect crowds possibly there, given it’s the only clean window. After lunch the wind turns cross-offshore, still clean but the swell drops even more to 2 ft.

From Thursday the 24th onwards, it all falls apart again – onshore winds, tiny swell under 2 ft, and combined energy barely hitting 50-100. The end of September and start of October is a write-off: strong winds, gale-force on the 28th and 29th with swell over 7 ft, but those are gale-force winds making it dangerous and unsurfable. Even though it’s clean (cross-offshore), 40 mph winds are no joke – that’s kite-surfing territory, not paddle surfing.

So, bottom line: if you’re desperate for a paddle, keep your eye on the morning of Wednesday the 23rd. That’s your one shot. Everything else is a miss. Stay patient, mate – it tends not to stay poor for long.

Rusty.

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