Hello Friends,

At about midnight the swell tracked around to the south off Sydney. At the same time it ramped quickly from less than a metre to almost 2.5 metres. All good, but for one essential detail: the average period is a mere 7 seconds (with a few into the 8 sec range). Wind was a brisk SSW asTuesday got rolling. The Bureau’s call is for it to tend southerly this evening and be 20-30 kts out at sea early before weakening slightly.

At 0730 there were only three or four people in the water at Dee Why. Sets looked to be in the waist high range, so I’d assume there would be the occasional bomb into the chest high zone. But the wind was cold up in the RealSurf crows nest, so I didn’t spend a real long time watching.

The swell energy looks likely to peak around midday before weakening back toward microness over the next 24 hours. Latest run of the models points toward smallness tomorrow before it pushes back up into about the size we’re expecting from this current pulse. The south to southwest wind regime seems set to continue as well… At this point, there does not seem to be any prospect of solid swell for our region over the next week or so.

The best prospects for a decent wave look like being along the far north coast late in the week.

Have yourself a top old day!

TIDES L @ 0900, H @1550
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Strong Wind Warning.
Tuesday until midnight: Wind: South to southwesterly 20 to 30 knots tending southerly 20 to 25 knots by early evening.Sea: Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres by early evening.Swell: Southerly about 1.5 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: Southerly 15 to 20 knots tending south to southwesterly 20 to 25 knots by early evening.Sea: 1.5 to 2 metres.Swell: Southerly 1.5 metres.
Thursday: Wind: South to southwesterly 20 to 25 knots tending southerly 15 to 20 knots during the evening.

Hello Friends,

Only a few characters willing to brave the single digit temp this morning to get in for the early at Dee Why. Rideable sets are pretty far apart now, so those hardy types were doing a fair amount of waiting for the chest high bombs. Wind was offshore and it looks set to stay that way all day.

As the sun came over the horizon, the MHL buoy was showing about a metre of SE swell coming in at 9 seconds apart. That’s half the size of yesterday but thanks to the aforesaid period setting, it’s not into the realms of flatness quite yet.

The Outlook

From the shape of the forecast models this morning, we’re still looking at a gradual decline to flatness by Thursday. If they’ve got it right, the models say the flatness will last through most of Friday before a brief long period pulse comes in from the south. Assuming it pans out as currently predicted, Saturday morning’s early will be the peak. If the 14 second period shows up, we could see solidly overhead bomb sets at south facing beaches.

Right now the models show the peak of the pulse lasting about 12 hours – most of which will be when it’s dark. Beyond Saturday we really are getting into the highly speculative end of things. But, for what it’s worth, the prospect is for more small but not flat conditions as the average swell energy bumbles around in the 1-2 metre range. The continental high seems to be bouncing the southern ocean systems away from us for the time being.

Go well with your day!

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Tuesday until midnight: Wind: West to northwesterly 10 to 15 knots.Sea: Below 1 metre.Swell: Southerly 1 to 1.5 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: Westerly 15 to 20 knots increasing to 20 to 25 knots later in the evening.Sea: Below 1 metre increasing 1 to 2 metres offshore.Swell: Southerly about 1 metre.
Thursday: Wind: Westerly 15 to 20 knots tending southwesterly 10 to 15 knots during the afternoon.

Hello Friends,

Swell energy has dropped back quite a bit since this time yesterday. Swell is currently around the metre mark with an average period of 8 seconds. On the plus side, it’s moved a touch more to the SSE, so that may help slightly. There was a smallish crew waiting at Dee Why point for the very occasional waist high set wave to peel along the rocks. The shorey was bigger, but for the most part shutting down heavily on those keen enough to jump into them.

Outlook is for the surf options to stay about the same in Sydney today. My hunch is that the best time to go wave hunting mid morning as the tide comes in. Just don’t expect to be catching much of anything above the waist to chest high mark. Wind is set to be mainly w to sw in the morning, before weakening into light seabreeze conditions this arvo in Sydney.

Looking ahead, current indications are that the waves will kinda hang around this level through mid next week… and then the models just go stupid. Depending on which riff on the data you favour, the call is currently for anywhere from 6 to 8(!) metres of south swell slamming into us Thursday-ish. Not surprisingly there’s also expected to be powering southerlies with the giant swell. I’ll be charging up my batteries for a bit of shooting, that’s for sure.

Go well with your day!

TIDES: L @0930, H @1545
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Friday until midnight: Wind: West to southwesterly 10 to 15 knots, inshore afternoon seabreezes less than 10 knots.Sea: to 1 metre. Swell: East to southeasterly about 1 metre.
Saturday: Wind: South to southwesterly 5 to 10 knots tending southeasterly during the afternoon.Sea: to 1 metre. Swell: Southeasterly 1 to 2 metres.
Sunday: Wind: South to southeasterly 5 to 10 knots tending east to northeasterly during the afternoon.

Hello Friends,

Nice conditions this morning, shame about the swell. Wind was moderate from the NW so places like No Mans with reasonable exposure to the southerly swell direction looked nice – even though the sets are struggling to get to waist high for the most part. Banks are pretty ordinary up that way it has to be said. Actually they aren’t too flash anywhere I’ve checked lately. We’re still in the transition phase to winter, so they’re by and large pretty parallel with the shore at this stage.

General outlook for today and tomorrow is for the swell to stay at about this level. The wind is set to pick up from the westerly quarters, so while it will be nicely offshore, it’ll also be pushing against the incoming swell. If you can find a little something to steer the mal along or work with a fish, consider yourself fortunate.

The latest run of the models suggests that from about midweek we should start seeing a little more energy. A couple of the interpretations are showing a very interesting and intense long period south pulse filling in on Friday. If the call is right, we could see double overhead conditions at exposed spots. This is right at the extremity of the prediction models though, so I wouldn’t be committing to anything just yet. Might be sensible to block it out in the diary though…

Have yourself a spiffing Sunday!

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Sunday until midnight: Wind: Northwesterly 15/20 knots tending west to southwest at 20/25 knots in the evening.Sea: about 1 metre rising 1.5 to 2.5 metres. Swell: Easterly about 1.5 metres.
Monday: Wind: West to southwesterly 20/25 knots decreasing to 15/20 knots during the morning then becoming southwesterly 10/15 knots during the afternoon.Sea: 2 to 2.5 metres abating about 1 metre in the afternoon. Swell: Southerly about 1.5 metres.
Tuesday: Wind: South to southwesterly 10 to 15 knots tending south to southeasterly up to 10 knots during the evening.

Hello Friends,

Is April delivering or what? Nine days in and 9 days with waves. Overnight the average height of the swell at sea jumped from well under 2 metres to just on three in the Sydney region. It’s straight south and the average period is around the 9 second mark. Dee Why’s seems to be biggest in the shorebreak (where I saw a couple shoulder high sets). The point appears to be largely missing it, but there a waist high thing came through while I was watching it at around 0645.

The breeze is kinda cool and offshore as we get started on the day, but it’s set to quarter around from the S-SW to S-SE. Happily it’s also supposed to ease off, so with luck it won’t be too junky for those of you who have to wait until this afternoon for a shot at a wave.

Outlook is for a pretty steady supply of waves. Nothing too dramatic on the size front, but you should be able to jag something this weekend. The latest run of the models suggests that Sunday from about lunch time should be the best time to go, but odds are it won’t be too small to surf tomorrow.

Longer range is looking promising right now. There should be surf right through the end of the coming week on the current reckoning. Gotta love April.

Stay happy!

TIDES: H @0430, L @1115, H @1730
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Friday until midnight: Wind: S/SW 15/20 knots easing to S/SE 10/15 knots in the afternoon.Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: S/SE 1.5 to 2 metres.
Saturday: Wind: NW 10/15 knots tending N/NE in the afternoon and freshening to 15/20 knots later. Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres.Swell: SE about 1.5 metres.
Sunday: Wind: Northwesterly 10 to 20 knots.

Hello Friends,

Moderate offshore breezes kicked off the first of April in Sydney. Huey turned on the wave tap by just a bit yesterday arvo and this morning saw the odd chest to shoulder high set in the mix at south swell spots.

Wind is due to swing around to the south and SW as the tide fills in, so you’d have to think the earlier the better.

Swell is averaging a couple metres at sea but it has a 7 second average period, so there’s not much power. The outlook over the next few days is for more or less much of the same. With luck we’ll have the Goat’s thoughts later on today, but for now, looking at the various prediction riffs on the WAM data suggests that the little low forming off the east coast probably won’t sling much swell at us. But at least the prospects aren’t for flatness. And if we’re lucky there could be a bump late in the weekend as some east energy arrives.

Have yourself a great April Fool’s day!

TIDES: H @1050, L @1640

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Strong Wind Warning.
Thursday until midnight: Wind: S/SW 20/30 knots Sea: 2 to 3 metres.Swell: S/SE 1.5 to 2 metres.
Friday: Wind: S/SW 20/30 knots, easing later in the day to 15/25 knots.Sea: 2 to 3 metres. Swell: S/SE about 2 metres.
Saturday: Wind: S/SE 15/25 knots.

Hello Friends,

Hadn’t looked at the beach in a few hours when a message came in from mate Barry to tell that things were changing. And so they have. Swell has gone more south and jumped from about a metre at less than 6 seconds on average to around 3 metres at about 7-8 seconds. Wind is out of the SW at 15-20kts and the combo is producing waist to shoulder high waves in the corner at Dee Why. As you can see from the pic, the quality is pretty ordinary, but they can be caught, they can be ridden – and are being.

Hello Friends,

With the forecast calling for south wind this morning, your correspondent decided to make an early start on the day. I checked the Warriewood to Mona stretch first. Not super fabulous, it has to be said. The little windswell is mostly in the knee high range but here and there, depending on the current state of the tide, you might find a little peak focusing. However, the southerly isn’t going to do a lot to help things, surface-wise. Judging from the buoy data coming in from down at Eden and Batemans Bay, there is reason to think that we’ll also get an uptick in the south swell over the course of the day.

About the best I saw early was a sort of complex of peaks from carparks North. Quite a few bods on it, but as we got closer to 0900, more and more folks had to peel off to attend to other obligations. I sampled a few myself and can report that the water was beautiful.

On the way back to the office I swung into Longy for a squizz at happenings. No south swell energy apparent, but the wind was chopping up the knee high froth for a couple mal riders up the north end. From there south to the single surfer waiting hopefully in front of the DYSLSC there was not another person in the water.

Ok, gonna post this and then have a look at the latest run of the models for ya…

TIDES: L @1030, H @1622
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Strong wind warning.
Tuesday until midnight: Wind: W/NW 8/13 knots ahead turning SW early morning then S’ly 20/30 knots during the morning.Sea: about 1 metre rising to 2 to 3 metres behind the change.Swell: Increasing to S/SE 2 to 2.5 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: S/SE 10/15 knots tending E/SE.. Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: S 2 to 2.5 metres.

Thursday: Wind: E/SE 5/15 knots.