Hangers Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a good hard look at what’s coming up for the next 16 days for Hangers. I gotta be straight with you from the get-go – this stretch is looking pretty grim. The finder is basically a blank page for any decent surf, so we’re going to be waiting a long time for anything that’s even worth paddling out for.

The pattern is flat and uninspiring. We’ve got a solid gap of almost two weeks here with no real recommendations. From the start of the period on Tuesday, August 4th all the way through to the end of the second week, the surf is just too small and messy to get excited about. The swell is tiny, mostly under 2ft, and what little energy there is comes from the east with short, weak periods around 6 to 8 seconds. The wave energy is low, staying between 11 and 96 (combined energy of all swells directed here), just a weak, anemic pulse. The wind is almost always onshore or cross-onshore, chopping up whatever crumbly little waves there are. It’s just not a surfer’s window.

But hold on. There is one tiny glimmer, and it’s way out there. Around August 17th, and into the 18th and 19th, we start to see a change. The wind is going to switch around to the west and southwest, giving us some clean, offshore conditions. The swell direction turns to the ESE, and the period starts to stretch out a bit to 8 and even 9 seconds. The combined energy climbs a little, hitting 27 to 44 (combined energy of all swells directed here) on those cleanest slots. Look, it’s not going to be big – we’re still talking about 1ft of swell – but it’s the only time in this whole forecast where the conditions will be clean. The morning of Monday, August 17th, the morning of Tuesday, August 18th, and the morning of Wednesday, August 19th all show clean conditions with light offshore or cross-offshore winds. These are the only windows worth a look. The water temp is sitting at 84°F, which is perfectly normal for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a rubber.

For a break like Hangers, which is a beach and reef setup that takes a NE swell best, this ESE swell is not ideal. It’s an exposed spot, so it catches whatever is around, but the direction is a bit off. Still, when the alternative is fourteen days of nothing, a clean, tiny wave is a win. The crowds are listed as "sometimes" here, so on a rare clean morning, you might have a few others with the same idea, but it shouldn’t be packed.

Look, there’s no sugar-coating it. This is a tough outlook. The first two weeks are a write-off. If you’re desperate, keep an eye on that third week, specifically the mornings of August 17th, 18th, and 19th. The long-range call is promising but less certain. For now, maybe it’s a good time to wax the longboard and just enjoy the clean water, because the waves themselves are going to be a struggle.

Rusty

Read more