Hilton Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what we've got on the table for the next couple of weeks at Hilton.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – this is a quiet stretch. We're looking at a lot of small, weak, and messy conditions. The swell energy is low, with values hanging around 54 and dropping down into the single digits later on (combined energy 54). For a reef setup, that's not much to get excited about. The water's running about 85°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. The best bet across the whole 16-day period is a couple of mornings that will be glassy, but the swell is tiny.

For the first week, from Sunday the 6th through to the weekend, it's mostly onshore winds and small, weak swell. The mornings of Tuesday the 8th, Thursday the 10th, Friday the 11th, and Saturday the 12th will all be glassy, but the swell is barely a ripple at 2ft to 2ft from the WNW with a short period of 6 to 7 seconds. It's surfable, but only just. Not a standout by any stretch. The afternoon sea breezes fill in and junk it up.

The best of a limited bunch looks to be Wednesday morning, the 9th of September. We get a glassy start, a bit more energy at 59, and a slightly longer period at 8 seconds for the 2ft swell from the WNW. It's described as "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions" – that's about as good as it gets here. Don't expect much, but if you're desperate, that's your window.

Then we hit a real dry spell. From the afternoon of the 9th all the way through to Thursday the 17th, it's consistently poor. The swell drops to 1ft, energy crashes to single digits (8 or 9), and the wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore. You can basically write off that whole week.

Looking into the second week, Thursday the 17th morning goes glassy again, but it's only 2ft. The next morning, Friday the 18th, is the other slight glimmer. Glassy start again with a 3ft swell from the WNW and a period of 7 seconds, energy at 53. Again, it's "surfable but very ordinary." The afternoon chops it up. Then the final standout is Monday the 21st of September morning, with a clean cross-offshore wind and a 2ft WNW swell at 7 seconds and energy of 41. That's actually a nice clean window, but the wave size is still tiny for a reef.

Honestly, for a reef break, this is a tough run. The swell is tiny and the periods are short, so the wave quality will be lacking. For beginners, even the 3ft days are manageable, so those glassy mornings are your only real shot. For everyone else, it's a lot of waiting and hoping. The few glassy windows are worth a look if you're local and need a paddle, but there's nothing that's going to get your heart racing.

Rusty.

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