Hilton Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are going to be a tough watch for anyone looking to get wet at Hilton (reef). The swell is tiny, the wind is often messy, and the conditions are just plain ordinary for most of the run. You’re looking at a real dry spell.

Starting right now, we’ve got weak, short-period NW swell nudging in at a tiny 2 ft, but the wind is a cross-on mess. That poor surf sticks around through Thursday and Friday. The swell energy is barely registering – and with period hanging around the 6-second mark, there’s just no push or shape. Wednesday morning (16th) sees a moment of glassy conditions with a NNE breeze at 3 mph, but the swell is still a pathetic 2 ft and too weak to surf. Friday on the 18th is barely a ripple with 1 ft and a period of just 3 seconds.

We finally get a tiny pulse for the morning of Saturday the 19th. Swell ticks up to 3 ft from the WNW with a period of 7 seconds. The water temp is a notable 85.3°, which is 3.8° warmer than normal – so it’s much warmer than usual for this time of year. The wind goes glassy in the morning with a 3 mph W breeze. It’s surfable, but barely. The waves are ordinary, short period, and inconsistent. The afternoon gets chopped up again.

The rest of the first week and into the second stays poor. We get another 3 ft glassy morning on the 24th (Thursday), but the wave quality is still described as very ordinary. The swell direction is WNW, which is not the ideal WSW this reef likes.

The best chance we get in the whole 16 days shows up on the morning of Friday the 25th of September. The swell finally pushes to 4 ft from the WNW with an 8-second period. There’s some proper push behind it. The wind is a dead calm 0 mph from the NW, making it glassy. It’s surfable, but still very ordinary and inconsistent. For a reef, that short period and inconsistent nature is a bit of a gamble. The size is small enough for beginners, and if you’re an intermediate, it’s the only window that might offer a ride.

After that, it drops back into the weak stuff for the final days of September. By the 30th, we’re down to 1 ft with 6-second periods and moderate cross-shore wind. Unless you’ve got a longboard and zero expectations, it’s a skip.

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