Ilbaritz - Bora Bora Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for Ilbaritz - Bora Bora over the next couple of weeks.

Overall, it’s a bit of a mixed bag to start. We’ve got a run of days with onshore wind and choppy conditions, but the tail end of the first week and into the second week is where the real promise lies. The swell energy is moderate, but the wind direction is the key. There are a few standout windows that will have the reef working nicely.

The first real nod goes to Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd. Saturday morning starts with a 4ft northwest swell, period around 9 seconds, and a light cross-offshore wind from the southeast. The energy is there (241), and the conditions are clean. Saturday afternoon gets even better with a clean offshore easterly breeze at 6 mph, keeping the 4ft NW swell glassy. The combined energy drops slightly to 225, but the wind is perfect. On Sunday the 23rd, the morning stays clean with a gentle offshore easterly at 9 mph, though the swell drops to 3ft (96 energy). It’s smaller, but still surfable and clean. This is a classic Bora Bora reef setup – the west-northwest optimum swell direction matches the forecast northwest swell, so the reef will be picking it up nicely.

After that, there’s a bit of a lull through Monday and Tuesday, with small, weak swell and poor conditions. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual.

Now, the real highlight – and the one I’d circle on the calendar – is Friday the 28th of August through to Tuesday the 1st of September. Friday the 28th morning has a clean offshore wind from the east-southeast at 6 mph, with a 4ft northwest swell (273 energy). The period is 10 seconds, so there’s some decent groundswell juice. That’s a good, clean window. Then on Saturday the 29th, the morning is glassy – near dead calm with a 4ft west-northwest swell (184 energy). It’s not the biggest, but glassy conditions on a reef in Bora Bora? That’s a treat.

Sunday the 30th morning is clean again with a light cross-offshore breeze from the northeast, 4ft WNW swell (211 energy). Monday the 31st morning has a firm offshore easterly at 9 mph, 4ft NW swell (229 energy) – clean and lined up. Then Tuesday the 1st of September is a gem: morning has a light cross-offshore breeze, 5ft WNW swell (228 energy), and by afternoon it goes glassy with a 4ft WNW swell (207 energy). That afternoon session on Tuesday the 1st is going to be special.

The standout session overall is Tuesday the 1st of September afternoon. The wind is glassy, the swell is a clean 4ft from the west-northwest, and the combined energy is 207. It’s the perfect size for the reef, not too big, not too small. The direction is spot on for the optimum. No crowds mentioned, but at a spot like this, you can expect some company on a good day – it’s worth it.

One thing to note: the swell periods through the best windows are 9 to 10 seconds, which is a nice groundswell. It’ll give the reef waves some shape and power, but the sets will be spaced out enough that paddling out won’t be a battle.

Take it easy, and I’ll see you out there.

Rusty

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