Hennemans Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here again. Let’s cut through the chatter. Hennemans is looking at a long stretch of messy, small surf, and the numbers don’t lie. The water temp is about what you’d expect for late July, nothing weird going on.

The first few days, starting Tuesday 28 July, we have a solid SW groundswell, periods between 14 and 17 seconds. That’s long-period stuff, which packs a punch but on a reef break like Hennemans, exposed to the west, it can close out or run straight. The combined energy is moderate to strong, hitting 1039 on Tuesday morning, but the wind is onshore from the SSW at 9 mph. That’s a killer. The waves are around 4ft, but the quality is marginal and the tide is questionable. It’s a tease.

Wednesday 29 July is the same story: 4ft of SW swell, 16-second period, but onshore SW wind at 6 mph. Still not clean. Thursday 30 July sees the swell drop a little, and the wind goes cross-onshore from the west at 6 mph, with the afternoon picking up to 5ft but the period dropping to 14 seconds. The energy is still there, but the wind is a problem. By Friday 31 July, the swell is fading, and the wind is cross-onshore from the west at 9 mph, making it choppy. The energy drops to 738. This is not a day to paddle out.

Then we hit a real dead zone. From Saturday 1 August through to the end of the second week, the swell collapses. From 4ft on Saturday morning, it drops to 2ft by Sunday, and then it’s barely a bump. The period is all over the place, and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore. The combined energy falls into the low hundreds, and the scores are all zeros. That’s a full ten-day stretch of nothing. That’s a long gap. The swell tries to flicker back around 11 August, with a 1ft SW groundswell, period 19 seconds, which is a very long period, but it’s tiny. The energy is a weak 171. There’s a hint of a wave on Wednesday 12 August, with 2ft and 18-second period, 316 energy, but it’s still marginal. The wind is cross-shore from the WNW, which is a bit better, but it’s not enough.

The one standout is the Tuesday 28 July morning session. It’s the biggest energy we see, with 4ft of SW swell at 17 seconds, and 1039 energy. The wind is onshore, which hurts, but if you’re really keen and the tide works, it’s the only window with any real power. The rest of the first week is a slow fade, and the second week is a washout. For a reef break that’s inconsistent anyway, this kind of blank run is pretty normal for the area. Forecasts can change, but right now, there’s nothing to get excited about.

Rusty out.

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