Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' for our stretch of coast.

First up, we're talkin' Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa). This is a proper advanced reef set-up, and it's fairly consistent, which is something. The water is sitting at 84° right now, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – a nice little bonus to start things off.

Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the next sixteen days are a bit of a bust. We've got a huge gap here with absolutely no decent surf on the cards. The whole first week is a write-off. From Monday the 7th through to Sunday the 13th of September, it's all onshore wind and risk of t-storms, with surf quality marked as poor. The swell is there, but the wind is just trashing it. The combined wave energy builds from a moderate 351 to a much stronger 2718 over that period, but it doesn't matter a damn with that wind direction.

We get into the second week, and honestly, the story doesn't change much. From Monday the 14th through to Monday the 21st of September, it's more of the same: onshore wind, lumpy conditions, and consistent "poor surf conditions" across the board. The swell size bounces around between 4ft and 8ft, and the combined energy gets properly strong, hitting over 4000 on the 19th, but without the right wind, it's all just a messy, blown-out shorebreak. The period on these swells is long, often over 15 seconds, which is normally a sign of quality groundswell, but again, the wind is just killing it. For a reef setup like this, a long period swell from the SSW with a strong cross-onshore wind is more of a washing machine than a wave. By Thursday the 17th, the wind state even says "fresh cross-onshore and lumpy," which tells you everything you need to know.

The standout from a pure size perspective is Saturday the 19th of September, with a solid 8ft swell from the SSW, but with 30-35 mph winds straight onshore, that's expert-only territory and frankly dangerous and unpleasant. Not one for the logbook.

To be honest, this whole sixteen-day run looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The wind's up, the swell's pumping, but the quality is just not there for us wave riders. A blank run like this is a bit unusual for the area, but it happens. Fingers crossed the forecasts change.

Rusty.

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