Honokohau Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – this outlook for Honokohau is a tough one. The whole 16-day window is a bit of a write-off for decent surf. There are no real standouts, no days where you’d want to paddle out for a proper session. The first real sniff of anything even close to rideable doesn’t show up until the very end, and it’s still marginal. Let’s break it down.

From now, right through the rest of July, we’ve got a solid run of poor surf conditions. The wind is constant from the ENE, blowing cross-shore at 12 to 19 mph, which is just messing up the surface – creating a lumpy cross-chop that’s no fun at all. The swell is all over the place, mostly small and weak. The combined wave energy is low, sitting between 179 and 488 for most of the period – that’s moderate energy at best, and the swell direction is all wrong for this spot. Honokohau needs a northerly swell, but we’re getting stuff from the W, E, and ENE. The water’s sitting at 79°, which is pretty normal for this time of year, so no complaints there.

The middle of the window, around the 18th to 24th of July, we see a bit more size – 5 ft to 6 ft – but it’s still that short-period, messy windswell with a period of 7 to 8 seconds. The wind is still cross-shore and fresh, so it’s just going to be choppy, lumpy, and unsurfable. Even the bigger days (6 ft) are a no-go.

The only time things get interesting is right at the very end, around the 26th and 27th of July. A long-period groundswell from the E shows up, with a period of 16 seconds – that’s proper energy. The combined wave energy spikes to 797 and 827, which is strong (four-digit). The swell height is 4 ft to 4 ft, so it’s small but with that long period, it’ll have some push. The wind is still cross-shore from the ENE at 16 mph, but it’s a moderate breeze, not too strong. The problem is, the forecast is still calling it “marginal” or “poor” – the tide might be wrong, or the swell direction (E) is not the optimum for Honokohau (which needs N). So, it’s a promising sign of energy, but it’s not a goer for this spot. It’s a long way out, so take it with a grain of salt.

Honestly, there’s nothing here for a paddler. If you’re a kite surfer, that constant cross-shore wind and the moderate wave energy might be worth a look, but for a surfboard, it’s a blank run. We’ll see if the forecasts change.

Rusty.

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