Nanwan Beach (South Bay) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at what’s on offer for Nanwan Beach (South Bay). This is a beach and reef setup that’s fairly consistent and exposed to the south-east, so it needs a good alignment of swell and wind to fire.

Honestly, we’ve got a long, frustrating stretch ahead. The first proper swell of any size doesn’t show up until Saturday the 25th of July, with a 10-foot ESE swell, but the combined energy is a massive 1569 and it’s accompanied by a strong cross-shore wind and rain. That’s not for paddling – that’s a full-on mess. The waves are lumpy, the wind is howling, and conditions are poor. That trend continues through the weekend and into the start of the next week, with building swell but constant onshore or cross-shore winds. The water temperature is about average for this time of year.

Things get interesting on Wednesday the 29th of July. We’ve got a solid 11-foot swell coming from the SE, with a combined energy of 1892, and a gentle offshore wind from the west in the morning. That’s a clear standout. The swell is overhead and powerful, the wind is offshore, and the conditions are clean. This is a proper session for experienced surfers – the size is too much for beginners. The only catch is the tide and wind alignment is supposed to be favourable, but the sheer size might make it a handful. That afternoon the wind swings and it gets messy, so the window is that morning.

After that, the forecast drops back into a run of poor conditions with onshore winds and lumpy, choppy surf right through to the end of the first week of August. There’s a spike of long-period groundswell around the 4th and 5th of August, with a 4-foot 17-second swell from the east on Tuesday the 4th, but it’s got a fresh cross-shore wind and lumpy chop. That direction and period might wrap in, but the wind kills it. The following days bring bigger swells from the south-west, but they’re all blown out by strong onshore winds, making it a moot point for a clean surf.

To summarise: the entire 16-day window has only one real standout, and that’s the morning of Wednesday the 29th of July. For experienced surfers, that’s the one to circle. For everyone else, there’s a lot of waiting and watching. The break itself is fairly consistent, so it’s not that the area goes flat – it’s just that the wind is against us for most of the run.

Rusty.

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