Emerald Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you—this stretch is going to test your patience. We’ve got a long, bleak run of tiny, wind-blown slop ahead, and it’s not until the back half of the outlook that things show any real pulse. Hang tight.

The first bit is a dead loss. From Friday the 11th all the way through to the morning of Wednesday the 18th, we’re looking at ankle-biters. Waves are hanging around the 0.6 ft to 0.7 ft mark, and while a few of those mornings have a clean offshore feel, there’s just no energy to push anything rideable. The combined energy readings are pathetic—often in the teens or single digits, with the strongest being a weak 45 on the 16th. It’s a flat spell, and it’s going to feel like forever.

There’s a slight bump on the morning of Wednesday the 18th, with 4 ft of short-period SE windswell, but the onshore NE wind that afternoon kills it, and the morning window is just ordinary. Not worth getting wet for.

Now, here’s where it starts to get interesting. Saturday the 19th morning is our first real standout. Emerald Beach (Big Island) is the spot. We’ve got a clean 3 ft of ESE swell with a solid 11-second period, and the wind is dead glassy. That’s a beautiful combo—clean, lined-up, and that long-period energy will give it some proper push. The combined energy is a solid 237, which is the first time we’ve seen anything with real guts. It’s an exposed point, so it’ll take that ESE swell well, and the crowd factor is likely to be an issue because it’s such a clean window on a Saturday. Get out there early. It’s not huge, but it’s the best that week has to offer.

After that, we slide back into mediocrity for a few days. The winds turn onshore and messy, and the swell drops back to weak and short-period. Sunday the 20th through Thursday the 24th is mostly a write-off—small, bumpy, and not worth the paddle.

Then we finally get the real juice. The end of the outlook, from Friday the 25th of September onwards, is where it gets properly interesting. That morning, we’ve got 6 ft of E swell with a 7-second period, and clean light cross-off winds. The energy jumps to 286—that’s a proper kick. It’s not groundswell, but there’s enough size and push to get you moving. Saturday the 26th looks even bigger, with 7 ft of ENE swell and energy over 550. That’s a strong pulse, but it’s also getting into the territory where it’s too much for the beginners, and the cross-on winds will chop it up a bit. For the experienced crew, that Saturday could be a proper session, but it’ll be a bit wild. It’s a promising longer-range signal, but like anything that far out, don’t book the day off work just yet.

One note on the water temp—it’s sitting at 69° with the anomaly right about zero, so it’s pretty average for this time of year. No surprises there.

So, the call is simple: two real windows to aim for. The clean, glassy morning of Saturday the 19th, and then the bigger, pushier surf on the 25th and 26th. The rest is filler. Stay patient, keep an eye on the charts, and don’t be afraid to save your energy for the good ones.

Rusty.

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