Halawa Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a look at what we’ve got coming up for Halawa. I’m gonna level with you – it’s a tough stretch ahead.

Looking at the whole 16-day window, the honest truth is that there’s no real standout session to get excited about. We’ve got a long, frustrating gap of poor surf conditions right through until the start of the second week, with nothing rideable on offer. Most of the time, the wind is pinned from the east or east-northeast, which is a cross-shore direction for this setup, and it’s fresh to strong, leaving the surface lumpy and chopped. That’s not what any of us want.

The first sliver of hope shows up on the morning of Thursday, the 5th of September. We’ll see a bit of a bump in size, with swell around 8ft coming out of the east-northeast. The period jumps up to 13 seconds, which is a nice long groundswell. The combined energy is massive, reading 1827 (moderate to strong energy). But here's the catch – that ENE wind is still a cross-shore, and it’s a moderate breeze, so the ocean will have a cross-chop on it. The forecast calls it “marginal,” and I’d be looking at it with a very critical eye. It might be worth a look early if you’re desperate, but it’s not clean.

That same pattern hangs around for Sunday, the 6th and Monday, the 7th of September. We’re still seeing 8ft to 8ft of east-northeast swell with a long 12–13 second period, and that wave energy is pumping – hitting 1480 on Sunday morning and a whopping 2266 on Monday morning. The problem remains the wind. It’s not until Monday afternoon that we get a shift to a cross-offshore breeze from the east-southeast (25 km/h). That will clean things up and make it a bit more surfable, but the swell is a solid 7ft. For most, that’s getting into expert-only territory, especially at a reef/river break. It’s a good wave if you’ve got the skill and you’re willing to deal with the size and the crowds that sometimes show when it gets good.

Water temperature is sitting at 80°F with an anomaly of -0.2°, so about perfectly average for this time of year. No surprises there, the water is warm.

From Tuesday, the 8th onward, the quality drops right off. The swell gets smaller and the period gets shorter, and we’re back to lumpy, poor waves with strong cross-breezes. There are a few days with smaller, longer-period swells from the north-northwest after the 13th of September, but with the wind howling onshore, it’s just messy. Honestly, for the rest of the outlook, I’d save your energy.

So, the only period that might be worth a paddle is that Monday afternoon, the 7th of September. If you’re an experienced surfer and you can handle a solid 7ft of ENE groundswell under cleaner skies, Halawa could have some punchy, lined-up waves. For everyone else, it’s a waiting game. Stay tuned, forecasts can shift, but right now, it’s looking pretty bleak.

Rusty.

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