Hennemans Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s see what’s cooking. I’m talking about Hennemans, a reef break, and it’s a mixed bag ahead. We’ve got a solid push of long-period groundswell to start, but the wind is a real headache. The water temp is 74°, which is 7° warmer than usual for this time of year - that’s a big anomaly, you’d feel that without a wetsuit.

The first real window hits on Tuesday, July 28th. We’ve got a 4ft swell from the SW, with a very long period of 17 seconds. That’s proper groundswell with a lot of grunt (combined energy of 1039), but it’s blowing onshore at 9 mph from the SSW. That’s a buzzkill because it’ll mess up the faces. The period is so long that at a reef, it can still produce some decent lines, but that wind will chop it up. The morning session is your best bet, but it’s still marginal.

Wednesday the 29th is similar, 4ft from the SW, period dropping to 16 seconds, still with onshore wind. The energy is still in the moderate-strong range (948), but it’s the same story with the wind. It’s a tease because there’s plenty of power, but it’s not clean.

Thursday the 30th sees the swell drop a bit to 4ft, period 15 seconds, and the wind swings to a light cross-onshore from the W. That’s a small improvement. The energy is still moderate (760), but the cross-offshore angle helps a little. Still, the note says “marginal surf forecast,” so don’t expect perfection.

The real problem is that from Friday the 31st onward, the swell steadily drops. By the weekend of August 1st and 2nd, we’re down to 2ft, and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore most of the time. The energy drops way down into the 200s and 100s. That’s weak. The reef won’t do much with that.

There’s a brief flicker on August 12th, Wednesday morning, with a 2ft swell from the SW, but the period jumps back up to 18 seconds, and the combined energy climbs to 454. The wind is light onshore from the WSW, so it’s not clean. It’s a tease. The following afternoon sees a similar 3ft, 18 second swell, with energy up to 485, but it’s cloudy and onshore again.

So, what’s the best on offer? Honestly, the standout is the Tuesday morning, July 28th. It’s the only time we have a decent size (4ft), very long period (17 seconds), and moderate-strong energy (1039). It’s the biggest and most powerful swell of the whole window. The wind is onshore, which is a shame, but a reef break like Hennemans can still handle that better than a beach. It’s the only session worth paddling out for. The rest is mostly small, weak, and wind-affected.

There’s a gap of poor surf from August 2nd through to August 11th, with barely anything over 2ft and energy in the 100s. It’s a real quiet spell. After that, the 12th shows a little pulse, but it’s still not clean.

In short: Tuesday morning the 28th is your one shot. Get on it. The rest is a waiting game.

Rusty.

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