Waiaha Rivermouth / Honls Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking for this little corner of the lineup.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the next 16 days are looking pretty flat and frustrating. We’ve got a lot of days with barely a ripple, and the best we can hope for is a few small, clean windows. The only real consistent spot on offer is Waiaha Rivermouth / Honls, a tricky reef break for advanced surfers only. It’s exposed to the SSW swell, which is what we’ll be seeing.

The water temperature is sitting at 80°, which is a touch warmer than average for this time of year – nothing crazy, but you might not need that thick wetsuit.

Okay, let’s walk through the week. The best of the bunch is coming right up on Saturday, July 25th. We’ve got a solid 2ft SSW groundswell rolling in with a very long 20-second period. That’s a lot of energy (843) for such a small wave. The wind is light and offshore from the SW in the morning, making for clean, glassy conditions. It’s small, but for the advanced crew, Honls will have some real quality lines. That Saturday morning session is the standout.

The swell drops a bit through Sunday and into Monday, but the wind stays light. Monday afternoon on July 27th actually turns glassy, and we get some clean 3ft waves with a 14-second period. It’s a small window, but it’s surfable. Tuesday the 28th is also worth a mention – morning has a clean offshore cross-off wind from the NNW, and the waves hold at 2ft. By Tuesday afternoon, it goes dead glassy again. These are the best sessions, but they’re all small.

After that, it gets ugly. From Wednesday the 29th onwards, the waves get smaller and the wind turns onshore or cross-shore, making a mess of things. There’s a long stretch of days with poor conditions and weak energy. We get a tiny blip of glassy conditions on Wednesday, August 5th, but the swell is only 1ft – it’s basically a lake.

The second week is a write-off. The swell tries to pick up a little around August 9th with a long-period 19-second SSW swell, but the energy is still moderate (416) and the wind is onshore. It’s a long way out, so it’s not something to bank on, but it’s the only sign of life in the distance.

So, bottom line: if you’re an expert who can make the most of small, clean, long-period groundswell, you’ve got a couple of windows this weekend and early next week. For everyone else, it’s looking like a good time to wax the longboard and take a nap.

Rusty.

Read more