Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let’s have a look at what’s on the table for the next couple of weeks.

First off, I gotta be straight with you – the outlook for Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) is a tough one for the next while. The water’s sitting at 84°F, which is about 2°F warmer than usual for this time of year, so you’ll be in for a warm soak if you do paddle out, but don’t expect much else.

The first solid bit of surf we see is a pulse on Monday the 20th of July. The morning is a write-off, but come Monday afternoon, a new S swell pushes in at 5ft with a period of 16 seconds. That’s a proper long-period groundswell with a lot of energy behind it (1648). The problem is, the wind is a gentle cross-onshore breeze, making it fairly choppy. The spot is a reef break for advanced surfers only, and it’s exposed to the SW swell, but the wind angle is just not helping. It’s a marginal call at best, and the tide could mess with it too. I wouldn’t get too excited.

Then Tuesday the 21st of July shows a similar story – another S swell around 5ft, period 15 seconds, and again moderate onshore winds in the morning. The afternoon sees a drop in energy and more cross-onshore breeze. Still not clean.

The real kicker is that the whole rest of the period is plagued by foul winds. From Wednesday the 15th right through to the end of the month, it’s a constant stream of west to west-southwest winds, mostly moderate, and often cross-onshore or directly onshore. The swell tends to be small, between 2ft and 4ft for most days, with very poor surf conditions called out repeatedly. Even when we get a bigger pulse on the 28th and 30th of July – with swell heights up to 5ft and periods of 16 to 20 seconds – the wind is still cross-onshore, ruining the face. The energy on the 30th of July morning is massive (2478), but it’s completely wasted by the wind. For a reef break like this, that’s a heartbreaker.

There’s one slim window on the 27th of July afternoon where the swell direction swings to the SSW with a very long 18-second period (729 energy), but the wind is still directly onshore, so it’s messy.

Honestly, the best I can say is maybe look at the 28th of July as a “promising but uncertain” long-range call. The swell is there (5ft, 16 seconds), but the wind needs to behave. Without a proper offshore or glassy morning, this spot just won’t deliver. For the next 16 days, the pickings are slim. If you’re a kite surfer, the consistent onshore wind and moderate swell might look interesting, but for a paddle surfer, this is a long stretch of blank days.

Rusty.

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