Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right off the bat, it's a bit of a grind out at Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa). There’s no clean, green light session on the horizon for a while—the forecast is looking at a run of onshore and cross-onshore winds, with a lot of messy, lumpy, and choppy conditions. The swell energy is there, but it’s not coming together with the wind to give us anything worth paddling out for. The first real chance we get is Friday the 11th, but even that's more of a look-see than a go-time. The water temp is running about average for this time of year, so a normal spring suit is all you need.

The Friday morning session on the 11th sees some waist to chest high swell, 5ft, from the SSW with a solid 15-second period. That’s a south-west groundswell, and the energy reading is moderate at 1945. But the wind is howling from the WSW at 9 mph and it’s directly on. It’s not big, but it’s not clean, and the whole day is basically a write-off with thunderstorm risk. Not the one to set the alarm for.

Saturday the 12th brings a little more size—7ft from the SSW with a 17-second period. That's proper groundswell energy, with readings of 2731 and 2708, so there’s some push behind it. But the westerly wind jumps up to 9-12 mph onshore. It’s the same story: a bit of size, but the surface is going to be poor. The period is long enough to make things lined up at this reef, but the wind kills the potential.

Sunday the 13th, the swell drops back to 5ft to 6ft. The wind goes cross-on in the afternoon, and we’re looking at a moderate cross-onshore and choppy. Not good. By Monday the 14th it’s down to 4ft to 4ft from the SSW, and the period jumps to 17-18 seconds, but you have a solid 12-15 mph cross-onshore wind making it a mess. Tuesday the 15th has fresh cross-onshore wind at 18 mph, lumpy and rough, and the swell is just average. Wednesday and Thursday are more of the same—onshore winds, choppy surf, poor quality.

Honestly, the first week of this forecast is a total battle. There’s no standout session. There are gaps where you’d just be fighting the wind and the chop. The swell direction from the SSW is hitting the optimum SW direction for this reef, but the wind is just ruining any chance of it coming together.

Moving into the back half of the outlook, things don't look much better. The 19th and 20th see a bit more size—6ft to 6ft from the SSW, with moderate energy readings around 1613 and 1774. But it’s the same onshore westerly wind at 12-15 mph. It’s surfable but not clean, and the conditions are going to be rough.

Then we get to the 22nd, where the swell comes from the west at 7ft to 8ft with a short, weak 8-second period. This is junk. That period is less than 8 seconds, meaning it’s wind swell with no push, and that size is getting up there for most guys. If it’s a beach break, it’s going to be closing out. With the fresh onshore breeze, this setup looks way more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer. Not worth it.

By the 24th, there's a huge jump in period—22 to 23 seconds—and a big jump in energy, with readings of 2569 and 3304. This is very long period groundswell. But the size is only 5ft. It’s a tease. Long period and a reef like this can be a great combination, but the wind is still blowing 15-18 mph onshore, and it’s not going to be clean. This might be the most interesting wave of the whole run, but you would have to be a glutton for punishment to paddle out into that wind. It’s a promise for a better day, though. The 25th keeps that energy up—3299 and 2628—with 6ft SSW swell, but again, the fresh westerly wind just messes it up.

So, what have we got? Not a lot. The only real window where things might align is around the 24th and 25th—over a week out, so take it with a grain of salt—when that very long period SSW groundswell rolls in. If the wind eases even a little, Inside Reef could be the standout. It's a long-range promise, so not worth betting the house on, but it’s the only one with any real potential. Otherwise, this is a stretch of poor, onshore, choppy surf. The spot stays fairly consistent for swell, but the winds are just killing it. It tends not to stay this bad for long, so keep an eye on it.

Rusty.

Read more