Honokohau Harbour Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about Honokohau Harbour. This is a tricky stretch. The forecast is a long, drawn-out period of small, junky surf, with only a couple of tiny windows where it might clean up enough to be worth a paddle. The good news is it’s a consistent reef set-up, so it’ll always be breaking, but the challenge is the quality.

The opening days are grim. Thursday the 6th through Tuesday the 11th are all pretty much a write-off. We’re looking at tiny, weak swell, mostly in the 1ft to 3ft range, with poor-surf warnings practically every session. The wind is mostly light but either onshore or cross-onshore, which just chops up what little juice there is. The combined energy is weak, mostly in the low 100s, and it just doesn't feel like there's any push. You’d be fighting for dribblers.

Then, on Wednesday morning, the 12th, there’s a real glimmer of hope. The wind goes glassy, and the swell ticks up to 3ft. The combined energy jumps to 414, which is moderate. The forecast actually says “expect good surf conditions.” This is the standout of the whole window. It’s still not big, but with that glassy surface, the reef will have some shape. The swell direction is SSW, which is what this spot wants. It might be a bit soft, but it's the best chance for a clean, fun session on a longboard. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so no worries there.

After that little window, it’s back to the grind. The rest of the week is a mess of tiny, short-period NNE windswell, which is the wrong direction for this place. The energy drops right off, and we’re back to poor surf. The 16th and 17th see a bit more size, getting to 3ft and 4ft, but the quality is still poor to marginal. The period is short, under 9 seconds, so it’s just soft, crumbly, and lacking any punch. The cross and cross-on winds don’t help either.

The 20th brings a glimmer of hope with a longer period SW swell (16 seconds) and moderate energy, but the size is only 2ft and the winds are cross-on. It’s a tease. It’s that long-period energy that would be great if there was any size behind it, but there just isn't.

So, overall, the call is simple. If you want to get wet, you’re looking at Wednesday the 12th in the morning. That’s your window. Everything else is a skunk. The setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer for most of this period, with all that cross-onshore wind and small, weak waves. Don't get your hopes up for anything else.

Rusty

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