Halawa Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get straight into it. This is Rusty.

First up, we’re looking at Halawa. This is a reef and river setup, and it’s got that exposed feel to it, the optimum swell direction is from the NNW. Over the next 16 days, to be honest with you, it’s a pretty grim run. There’s a big gap right at the start with nothing really worth paddling out for. The whole forecast is littered with poor surf conditions, so temper your expectations.

We kick off on Wednesday the 19th of August. The morning has some cloud cover, wind is coming out of the ENE at 12 mph, creating a cross-on breeze. Swell height is a modest 4 ft from the ENE, but with a short period of only 8 seconds and weak wave energy (221), it’s not going to have any push. The afternoon isn’t any better – cross-shore wind, a slightly bigger 5 ft, but still junk.

Thursday the 20th drops right off. The morning shows a tiny 2 ft swell from the NE with a 6-second period and wave energy barely registering (40). It’s clean with light wind, but there's just no surf. The afternoon is similar with 3 ft.

Friday the 21st sees a little bump – 4 ft in the morning from the NE, building to 5 ft from the ENE in the afternoon, but wave energy is only moderate (128 and 212). The wind is cross-shore and moderate again, so it’s going to be chopped up.

The weekend is a write-off. Saturday the 22nd has fresh cross-shore winds hitting 19 mph in the morning, with next to nothing for swell (1.0 ft). Sunday the 23rd is worse, with a strong breeze and risk of thunderstorms. It’s just messy, lumpy, and not worth your time.

It doesn’t get any better through the following week. Monday the 24th has a near gale from the east, and the surf is just a blown-out mess. Wave energy is consistently low or moderate at best, and the wind never lets up. We see a little spike on Wednesday the 26th of August in the afternoon, where the swell jumps to 5 ft from the ENE with 8-second period and wave energy climbing to 281, but it’s still cross-shore and lumpy. That pattern repeats a few times – a bit of height, but always with poor quality.

The real standout, if you can call it that, is way out on Wednesday the 2nd of September. The afternoon shows a big 10 ft swell from the ENE with a period of 12 seconds, and the wave energy goes through the roof – 2835. That’s strong energy. But here’s the heartbreak: the wind is a strong cross-onshore breeze at 25 mph, with risk of thunderstorms. The surf report says “poor surf conditions.” For a reef break like Halawa, that size with that wind is going to be a dangerous, blown-out mess. This setup looks a lot more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It would take a really experienced crew to even look at it, and even then, the quality won’t be there.

Thursday the 3rd of September still has some size – 7 ft from the ENE at 10 seconds (moderate wave energy, 873) – but again, a near gale cross-shore wind ruins any chance of a clean wave.

Because the consistency here is "fairly consistent" it hurts a bit more to see this blank run. The wind is the main culprit, just never letting up from the east. There’s no magic window with clean offshore flow. It’s frustrating. No break stands out as a good option; the wind and swell directions are just wrong for getting clean waves at Halawa. You’d be waiting for a change in the pattern.

Rusty.

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