Strickland Bay Alert Guide

Western Australia, Australia · part of the Strickland Bay spot guide

Strickland Bay is forecast-only — there is no NOAA buoy anywhere near Western Australia — so the alert runs on the GFS-Wave model and the height below is an open-ocean reading. The reef converts 12-second-plus groundswell into faces noticeably bigger than that number. The in-situ cross-check is the Western Australian Department of Transport’s Rottnest waverider, ten kilometres south-west of the island in 48 m of water.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Watch the Southern Ocean between 40 and 50°S south-west of Australia; a deep low there is two to three days from the island at 15 seconds.
2. 2.Want swell from the south-south-west to south-west, 195–235° best, anywhere from 185 to 265° working — the reef needs 12 seconds and more to jack properly.
3. 3.Score a north-to-north-east morning ahead of a front: winter gives the best odds, and the Fremantle Doctor turns it onshore by early afternoon in the warm months.
4. 4.Read the model swell as open-ocean: 4 feet at 14 seconds is a solid day on the reef, 8 feet and up is the left holding serious size while the right shuts down.
5. 5.Time it for a higher tide — the platform dries at low — and check SharkSmart before you paddle out.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: N–NE offshore (before the Doctor) — from 330° to 60° (NNW–ENE).

Microtidal and mainly diurnal — a typical range of only 0.5 to 0.8 m. Tide is a secondary factor, but the reef dries at low: the island authority advises a higher tide, and locals surf it low-to-mid on the push.

Dial it in