Hennemans Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's talk about what we've got for Hennemans. It's a tough stretch, no two ways about it. We're looking at a long, dry run with hardly anything worth paddling out for.

First off, the water is sitting at a toasty 75°, which is a whopping 7° warmer than usual for this time of year. That's very unusual, so don't expect a wetsuit if you're used to a winter chill.

The forecast is pretty bleak from the start. We have a tiny bit of swell on offer, but the wind is just about always cross-onshore, keeping things bumpy and messy. For the first several days, from Sunday the 9th through to Wednesday the 13th, the conditions are described as poor. The swell is small, mostly around 1 ft to 3 ft, with a period that's all over the place. The combined wave energy is weak, sitting under 400 for most of it.

There's a slight shift starting around Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th. The swell nudges up a touch to 3 ft and 4 ft from the SW, with a period around 15 seconds. That's a proper long-period groundswell, which can sometimes wrap into a reef like Hennemans with a bit of shape. The wind also goes cross-shore, which is an improvement, and the wave energy climbs to a moderate level (around 688). The forecast even calls it "marginal" instead of "poor." That's the best we get, but it's still not clean. The waves will have a bit of cross-chop on them, so it's not going to be glassy.

After that, it's back to the same story: small, onshore, and poor. The swell drops again, and by the second week, from the 17th through the 24th of August, it's pretty much all poor conditions with tiny waves and cross-onshore wind. The energy levels are weak, usually between 200 and 450.

For the best of a bad bunch, your window is Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th. It's the only time the swell gets over 3 ft and the wind isn't straight onshore. Even then, it's not going to be epic. Hennemans is an inconsistent reef break, and it's exposed, so it needs a good window. This isn't it.

If you're desperate, you might get a few crumbly ones, but honestly, this setup with the persistent cross-onshore wind and small, weak swell looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer. There just aren't any standouts here.

Rusty.

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