Ilbaritz - Bora Bora Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it.

The next couple of weeks are looking pretty quiet for Ilbaritz - Bora Bora. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak surf ahead, so you’ll need to be patient. The good news is there’s a pulse of energy arriving on Monday the 24th, but that’s a long way off, so we’ll take it with a grain of salt for now.

The opening days are a grind. The water is running warm, about 75°, which is a couple of degrees above normal for this time of year. It feels like a bath out there. The swell is tiny, around 3ft at best, and it’s coming from the northwest with a short period. The energy is weak, reading around 119 on Sunday, before dropping off into the 80s and below. Not much to get excited about.

The wind is a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly onshore or cross-onshore, which isn't helping the already poor conditions. The first real chance of anything clean is Tuesday morning, the 11th, with a glassy surface and a small 2ft west-northwest swell. It’s surfable, but you’ll be working for it. It’s one of those days where you’d paddle out just to get wet, but you won’t be hooting and hollering.

That pattern pretty much holds for the next week. We’re looking at small, weak swells in the 1ft to 3ft range, with the period mostly under 10 seconds. The energy readings stay low, often below 100, which tells you there’s just not much power in the water. There are a few mornings with glassy or clean conditions, like the 16th and 17th, and the 18th starts off glassy too, but the swell is still pretty marginal. The wind gets a bit messy in the afternoons, so the mornings are your best bet for a grovel.

The middle part of the month is pretty dire. The 19th and 20th see the swell bottoming out, with energy readings dropping to 16 and 23. We’re talking about ankle-biters. It’s the kind of flat spell where you’re better off checking the tide pools than paddling out.

The energy starts to creep back up around the 22nd, with readings climbing back over 100 as a slightly longer-period swell (11 seconds) shows up. But the wind is still a problem, especially in the afternoon. The 23rd has a glassy start with a bit more push, but again, it’s still small.

Now, here’s the one to circle. Monday, the 24th of August. The morning is looking like the standout of the whole run. The wind is offshore from the east, the swell is up to 3ft from the northwest, and the energy is jumping to 228. It’s a long way off, so don’t book the day off work just yet, but the ingredients are there for Ilbaritz - Bora Bora to finally show its reef potential. The afternoon looks like it gets a bit bigger, maybe 4ft, but the wind switches to a cross-shore and it’ll get messy. So, it’s a morning mission for sure.

Don’t expect a classic, but that Monday morning is the best bet on offer in this whole window. It’s a long wait, but it might be worth it.

Rusty.

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