Anse Bougainville Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it—there’s nothing worth paddling out for in this outlook. Every single day through the whole 16-day window gets tagged as “poor surf conditions,” and the scores are all zero. So we’re staring at a real dry spell.

The only break in the mix is Anse Bougainville, a reef that’s consistent and exposed, with the preferred swell direction coming from the SE. Water temp is 80°F, which is about average for the time of year.

Through the first week and a half, winds are onshore from the SSE or SE, blowing 15–22 mph. Swell heights run from 3ft up to about 8ft. There’s a couple of days early on with a longer 15-second groundswell from the south, which could deliver some proper shape at a reef break, but the onshore wind kills the surface. Wave energy sits between moderate and strong for most of that stretch (400–900 range). Swell direction is good, but wind is not.

Come Tuesday, August 27th, you get a real injection of energy (1232) with a very long 18-second swell from the south, but again, winds switch to cross-onshore in the afternoon—lumpy and rough. The big standout is Thursday, August 29th, with 12ft swell from the SSE and 11-second period, energy hitting 3974—that’s very strong. This trend of heavy swell (10–12ft) continues into early September with energy still over 2000. But every single one of those days has strong onshore or cross-onshore winds, 19–22 mph. At that size and that wind on a beach-and-reef setup, this is looking more like a day for the kite surfers than for a paddle surfer.

So here’s the deal—there’s a lot of swell coming, but the wind won't cooperate to give us clean lines. This is a classic case of the trades locking in, and sometimes that's just the way it is around here. Nothing to do but wait for a change.

Keep the wax fresh, better days will come.

Rusty.

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