Honokohau Harbour Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty.

Alright, let’s be straight up: the next couple of weeks are mostly a write-off for Honokohau Harbour. We’ve got a long, quiet stretch ahead with only a couple of brief moments that might get your heart racing. The water temperature is sitting at a balmy 82°, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year – about 2° above average, so nothing too wild, just a pleasant tropical bath.

For the first week, from now through to the start of September, it’s pretty much flat and messy. You’ll see tiny swell around 1ft to 3ft, mostly from the NNE or SW, with periods all over the shop – short choppy stuff and the odd long-period groundswell that just doesn’t have any size behind it. The combined swell energy is weak, often below 100 (37–95), so there’s just no grunt. Winds are mostly light, but often onshore or cross-onshore, and the wave comment is consistently “poor surf conditions.” It’s a tough stretch – not worth paddling out.

We get a tiny glimmer on Tuesday afternoon, September 1st. The waves are only 3ft from the NNE with a short 7-second period, but the wind goes glassy – dead calm. The combined energy is still weak at 95, and the conditions are described as “surfable waves but very ordinary.” It’s not a standout, just the least bad day of the first week. Honestly, you’d be better off waiting.

Then the second week opens up a bit. Around Tuesday, September 8th, things start to change. The morning is still marginal with 3ft SSW swell, but by the afternoon, we get a real kick: 6ft from the SSW with a 12-second period – that’s proper groundswell. The combined energy jumps to 1579, which is strong. The wind goes glassy again, and the wave comment is “excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers.” That’s the standout of the whole outlook, but it’s pretty solid – 6ft with that period will have some punch, so leave the foamies at home. This is one for the crew who know what they’re doing.

Thursday, September 10th afternoon is another decent little window: 4ft from the NNE, 8-second period, glassy conditions, and a combined energy of 320. The comment says “expect good surf conditions” – nothing epic, but clean and rideable.

The real cherry on top is Friday morning, September 11th. We get 6ft from the SSW with a 9-second period, combined energy at 710, and glassy winds. The comment is “expect very good surf conditions.” That’s the best wave height of the whole forecast, and with clean conditions, Honokohau Harbour (Big Island) should be firing for intermediates and up. The swell direction (SSW) is a little off the optimum (WNW), but with that size and glass, it’ll still be fun.

After that, it falls apart again. By Friday afternoon (September 11th) the wind swings southerly at 16 mph with cross-shore conditions, and the weekend is a mess of cross-winds and small, weak swell. The last few days of the outlook are back to poor surf.

So to sum it up: there’s a quiet stretch now until early September, with the only real standouts being Tuesday afternoon September 8th (6ft SSW, glassy, expert-only) and Friday morning September 11th (6ft SSW, glassy, very good). Outside of those windows, you’re better off doing something else.

Rusty.

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