Zoo (Bull Bay) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what Zoo (Bull Bay) has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. It’s a reef set-up, fairly consistent, and it likes the swell coming from SSE, but we’re going to be dealing with a lot of easterly energy through most of this run, and the winds are mostly a problem.

Right now, for Monday the 31st, we’ve got a small window. The morning is actually looking alright with a glassy 4ft of surf from the ESE, and the water’s sitting at a warm 85°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year. The combined energy is moderate at 159, but honestly, it’s just surfable, nothing to write home about. That glassy morning is the only real chance we get for a few days though. The afternoon turns ugly with a risk of thunderstorms and a cross-on wind, and from Tuesday the 1st through Thursday the 5th, it’s a grim run of poor conditions every session—onshore or cross-onshore breezes, small weak swell, and energy levels dropping below 100 at times. There’s nothing worth paddling out for.

We get a little breather on Sunday morning, September 6th, with another glassy patch on 4ft surf, but again it’s small and ordinary. The energy is still low at 126. The pattern of poor conditions continues solidly through the rest of the first week and into the second week, with the swell slowly building but the wind never playing ball. By Tuesday the 8th, the swell is pushing 7ft, but it’s all cross-on wind from the ESE, making it messy. The energy is cranking up to 574 by that morning, but without clean conditions, it’s just a washing machine.

The biggest energy spike hits on Wednesday morning, September 9th, with a combined energy of 1321 on 7ft ESE swell. That’s some serious power, but the cross-on wind is spoiling it. This is over 8ft, so it’s expert-only territory anyway, and with that wind, it’s a pass for paddle surfing. For a reef break with cross-on wind, it’s going to be sketchy at best. The following days are more of the same—bigger swell, but always with that cross-on wind. The morning of Thursday the 10th and Friday the 11th both show marginal, not clean, with energy over 1000. It’s not until Saturday the 12th that the swell starts to drop back under 7ft.

Honestly, the standout here is not even a wave—it’s that Monday morning glass. The only other half-decent window is Sunday the 6th’s glassy morning. The rest of the 16 days is a write-off for clean surf. If you’re desperate, you might find something rideable on those bigger days, but with cross-on wind and that much power at a reef, it’s more of a survival session. For the better part of a week after the 8th, with that much wind and swell, this set-up looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

No real standouts to get excited about. The pattern is poor, and it doesn’t look like it’ll let up soon.

Rusty.

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