Zoo (Bull Bay) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, checking in from the beach. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – this is a tough stretch. The forecast is delivering a steady dose of swell, but it's almost all coming from the ESE with a short, choppy period of 8 seconds. That's windswell, not groundswell, and it's going to be messy. The wind is locked in from the ESE too, which puts us in a constant cross-on position at the main break, Zoo (Bull Bay). That means a lot of bumpy, lumpy conditions, and for most of the period, I'm seeing scores that just don't cut it. There's a lot of marginal surf or poor conditions, so we're going to be sitting through a lot of days waiting for a window.

The first real possibility of something decent doesn't pop up until Tuesday, 1st September in the morning. The swell drops to 4 ft from the ESE, and the wind goes glassy. The combined energy is weak (248), but with that glassy surface, Zoo could actually be ridable and clean. It's not going to be epic, but it's the best it's going to look for a long time. The water temp is about average for the time of year, so no complaints there.

After that, it's back to the grind. We get a solid run of poor surf and cross-on wind from the 2nd right through until the 4th. The swell starts to build again on the 5th of September, hitting 6 ft and then 7 ft on the 6th, but it's still plagued by that cross-on wind. By the 7th, the swell is getting proper – 8 ft and even 8 ft from the ESE, with a period stretching to 10 seconds on the 8th. The combined energy shoots up to a strong 1222 at one point, showing there's plenty of power. But here's the thing: at 8 ft, this is getting into solid territory, only for experts. More importantly, the wind is still cross-on at 9-12 mph, making it a choppy, blown-out mess. The period is climbing, but it's still a short-period swell, so it's not going to wrap in cleanly. That sort of power and wind on a reef like Zoo is going to be ugly, maybe even more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

The standout moment, if you want to call it that, is Tuesday morning, 1st September. A couple of hours of clean, glassy conditions on a 4 ft swell. Grab it. The other potential is Thursday, 4th September morning, when the swell is 6 ft, but the combined energy is a moderate 629 – that's a sign of some better wave energy. It's still marginal and cross-on, but it's the best of the later bunch. The rest of the run is a write-off until the 7th, but by then, it's too big and too messy for a good time.

Rusty.

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