Hi guys, I am not a surfer, my apologies for the intrusion. I snorkel and freedive , but don't seem to be able to successfully predict the water visibility.
The fact l is that whenever you guys are on, it's likely to be murky, and when you are not, likely to be clear. So the best option for me would be to learn the best times for surfing and stay home, and vice versa.
I.E. two days ago it was clear at Cottesloe, and no surfers. Today, there were heaps of surfers and the water was murky.
Could you educate me on what indicators tell you when to go surfing? I looked at the tides4fishing site and there is just too much there to figure out what impacts the water clarity.
You are looking for a series of days with no or very low swell (under 1.5m at rotto), and easterly winds. If there has been a front recently the water will be particularly murky. A couple of days of easterlies will help clear the water right up usually. Strong easterlies cause upwelling, which should bring clearer water (and usually kills any swell). We haven't quite hit the summer wind patterns yet.
Thanks Coohan, 1.5 m then. Good to know. Are you checking Seabreeze or some other site? The image below would indicate potentially a good visibility tomorrow?
Check the Swell Graphs (line graphs) on Seabreeze. Ideally, you want it to be 0.3m swell at Cottesloe and 5-10kt of Easterly, SE or NE winds. As also mentioned Rottnest swell is another good indicator - the lower the better. If there has been strong SW winds 20+kt in the past 1-3 days then the water visibility is likely to be murky even if the swell is low. You also want to be going after 9:00am when the sun is higher and giving better light.
Based on the forecast I would not be looking too seriously for a snorkel this weekend locally...
