Banzai Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty. Let’s be straight with you – the next 16 days out at Banzai (Big Island) are pretty grim. We’ve got about a two and a half week stretch here with no real green lights.

Overall, the pattern is dominated by small, short-period windswell mostly from the SE. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual there. The whole outlook is one long quiet spell, with the combined swell energy barely getting into three-digit territory on a few mornings, like Thursday 17th September morning when it reaches 200 (moderate wave energy), but even then it’s all poor-quality onshore slop.

If you paddle out on Tuesday 15th September morning, you’re looking at a weak 2 ft SE swell with a short, gutless 6-second period coming from the east-northeast at 9 mph, which is cross-onshore and fairly choppy. It’s basically a washout. Wednesday 16th stays cloudy and messy, still that same onshore wind. Thursday 17th sees the most energy with waves hitting 4 ft from the ESE, but the period is a measly 7 seconds and there’s a light cross-onshore breeze – the setup is poor surf conditions across the board.

The rest of the week runs into a string of risk of thunderstorms afternoons, with the swell barely keeping its head above 3 ft. Nothing stands out. The following week, from Tuesday 22nd September through to Wednesday 30th, it’s more of the same: small, weak, onshore or cross-onshore wind, combined energies mostly under 100 (weak), and waves spiking up to 4 ft at best on Wednesday 30th, but the period stays at 7 seconds or less.

Honestly, this is a classic case of the winter tradewind slop. For the entire 16-day window, the scores are all zeros. If you absolutely have to get wet, bring a longboard and low expectations. But there’s no standout session here – the best we can say is that the current is likely to shift in a week or so, but right now it’s a tough stretch. This area can go quiet like this, so don’t stress. Just wait it out.

Rusty.

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