Ilbaritz - Bora Bora Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking for Ilbaritz - Bora Bora over the next couple of weeks. Straight up, it’s not firing on all cylinders right now, but there are a few windows where it will come together, and when it does, it’ll be worth paddling out.

We’ve got a bit of a slow start. Wednesday morning the 9th sees a lumpy 6ft NW swell with a short 9-second period, kicking up a moderate 540 combined energy, but it’s messy with a light cross-shore N wind. Not the kind of session you’d get out of bed for. That afternoon turns choppy and poor. So we wait.

Thursday morning the 10th is where things first look up. The swell drops a touch to 4ft from the NW, period stretches to 10 seconds, and the combined energy sits at a solid 311. The magic is in the wind: dead calm, glassy conditions with a light easterly. That’s clean surf – not huge, but clean and workable. It’s a reef break and it’s fairly consistent, though crowds are often here. The water temp is 74°F, which is about 5° warmer than usual for this time of year – that’s notably warm, so maybe ditch the thick rubber.

Friday and Saturday mornings are glassy but the swell is tiny – under 3ft – so you’re scratching around for scraps.

Then we get to the real standout. Sunday morning the 13th. This is the one to circle. We’ve got a 4ft NW groundswell with a very long 13-second period, combined energy of 545. It’s bigger than it reads because of that period. More importantly, it’s dead calm. Glassy. Offshore wind from the west at 0 mph. That’s the kind of morning where the reef lines up and you get proper, grinding waves. This spot is exposed to the W swell direction, and the optimum swell direction is W, so it’s perfectly aligned. This is the best session on offer – clean, powerful, and made for an intermediate crew. Just expect a few others in the water because it’s often crowded.

Monday morning the 14th is almost as good – 5ft NW swell, 12-second period, 537 combined energy, and again glassy with a light westerly. Another very good session.

After that, the swell fades through midweek into smaller, wind-affected waves. There’s a gap of a few days with nothing worth shouting about, but long-range, Saturday morning the 19th looks promising. It’s over a week away, so treat it as a heads-up, but the numbers are mouth-watering: a 4ft NW groundswell with a VERY long 14-second period, combined energy of 537, and light offshore wind from the ESE. That’s clean, lined-up reef surf. Could be a real gem if it holds.

Right at the tail end, on the 24th, we see a big jump in swell height to 6ft from the NW with a monstrous 997 combined energy, but the wind is onshore and strong, making it a messy, blown-out mess. With that much energy and poor quality, and this being a reef setup, you’d be better off looking at it from the beach with a camera, not a paddle.

Bottom line: The standout is Sunday morning the 13th. Perfect conditions, proper groundswell, and the wind is glass. Get on it. Monday the 14th is almost as good. The long-range Saturday morning the 19th is one to keep an eye on. Everything else is small, wind-affected, or blown out.

Rusty.

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