Honokohau Harbour Surf Forecast and Surf Report

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

First off, I gotta be straight with you – the next few weeks are looking pretty flat for Honokohau Harbour. We’ve got a run of days with barely a bump, and the conditions are mostly messy. The good news? There’s a little glimmer of hope way out at the end of the forecast window.

We’re starting with Friday, August 7th, and the swell is tiny – only 1 ft from the SW. The wind is light and offshore in the morning, but the wave energy is weak (60), and the surf is just poor. Not worth paddling out for. That theme continues right through the weekend and into the next week. The swell nudges up a touch to around 3 ft from the SSW by Monday the 10th, and the combined energy hits moderate levels (368), but the wind is cross-onshore, messing up the surface. It’s a frustrating pattern.

We get a little more energy around Tuesday the 11th with a 3 ft SSW swell and a period of 14 seconds – that’s a nice long window for a groundswell, but again, the wind is cross-onshore and the wave comment says “poor surf conditions.” The energy hits 534 which is moderate, but it’s not translating to quality.

The middle of the week sees a shift to a tiny, short-period NNE windswell from the 13th to the 16th. Swell heights are around 2 ft to 3 ft, but the period is a pathetic 6 to 8 seconds and the energy is low (47 to 135). The wind is often offshore or light, but with that kind of weak, choppy swell, it’s just not surfable. There’s a good week-long gap with no real recommendations here.

Then we get into the second week. From the 17th to the 20th, we see a mix of tiny W swell and more NNE windswell, all with poor conditions. The energy is moderate at times (314 on the 17th afternoon), but the waves are still poor.

Now, here’s the standout. Look ahead to Friday, August 21st. The afternoon is looking interesting. We’ve got a 2 ft SSW groundswell with a long period of 18 seconds, and the combined energy is moderate (332). But the real magic? The wind goes glassy. That’s right, glassy. The forecast says “expect good surf conditions” with a score of 2 out of 10. For this stretch, that’s the best we’ve got. The swell direction is SSW, which is the optimum direction for Honokohau Harbour. It’s a reef break, so that long-period groundswell will wrap in nicely. The water temp is about average for this time of year.

The only catch is that crowds are possible here sometimes. But for a glassy, long-period groundswell with a favourable direction, don’t be surprised if a few of us are out there on the 21st afternoon. It’s a long way off, so treat it as promising but not set in stone.

Saturday the 22nd morning sees a bump in wind to 15 km/h from the NW, cross-on, and the quality drops straight back to poor. So that Friday afternoon window is your one true shot.

This is a spot that’s consistent, so a blank run like this isn’t normal – it’ll come back. But for now, keep your eyes on the 21st.

Rusty.

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