H-Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee and listen up, because this next stretch is shaping up to be a real test of patience. The wind is going to be a pain in the backside for days on end. It’s that cross-shore breeze from the east and east-northeast that’s going to mess up what little swell we have. For the next week or so, it’s a lot of lumpy, cross-chop conditions that just aren’t going to be any fun on a surfboard.

Let’s break it down. From Monday the 24th of August right through to the end of the month, the swell at H-Reef is on the small side, generally around 4ft to 7ft, but it’s coming from the east with a short, weak period of just 7 to 8 seconds. The waves will be disorganized and bumpy. The combined energy does get into the three-digit zone, reaching (603) on Monday morning, but that’s all spoiled by the cross wind. The water temperature is about 80°F, so that’s pretty normal for this time of year, no surprises there.

Through the first few days of September, the pattern just keeps repeating. We’re still seeing that moderate to fresh breeze from the east, and the swell stays small and short. The strongest energy comes through on Tuesday the 1st of September with the combined energy hitting (835), but it’s still messy. There’s a tiny window on Monday the 31st of August morning where the wave comment changes to “marginal,” but with the wind still cross-shore, it’s not worth getting excited about.

Then we get into early September. On Friday the 4th of September afternoon, the swell drops right off to 3ft but the period jumps to 12 seconds. That’s a long period groundswell, but it’s tiny and the wind is still cross, so it’s not going to do much.

The only real standout I can see here is a very long-range one. Look at Tuesday the 8th of September, both morning and afternoon. The swell direction swings to the northwest with a very long period of 16 seconds for the morning and 15 seconds for the afternoon. The swell height is only 2ft, which is knee-high at best, and the energy is moderate at (261). On one hand, that long period means the waves will have some shape if they form at all, but on a reef like H-Reef that needs a good swell from the NNE to work well, this north-west direction is far from ideal. It’s not going to break properly here. The wind is still cross-shore too.

Honestly, for the next two weeks, the conditions are poor for surfing at H-Reef. There’s no clean window with offshore wind, and the swell direction almost never matches the optimum NNE direction that this reef really needs to fire. If you’re determined to get wet, you’ll be fighting a cross-chop for very little reward.

Keep your eye on that September 8th window, but with the swell so small and the wrong direction, it’s looking more like a day to clean the wax off your boards than a day to surf them.

Rusty

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