Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the table for the next stretch.

Well, I gotta be straight with you – the outlook for Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) is a tough one to swallow. We're looking at a long, frustrating run of poor conditions. The water temperature is sitting at 84°F, which is about average for the time of year, so that's not the issue. The problem is the wind. For the entire first week, from Thursday the 9th of July right through, we've got a persistent moderate breeze out of the west, mostly cross-on or onshore, keeping the surface choppy and messy. The swell energy is surprisingly strong – you're looking at combined energy figures in the thousands (1749 on Thursday afternoon), so there's plenty of power in the water, but it's just not lining up cleanly.

The first real glimmer of anything decent doesn't appear until Sunday the 12th of July morning, when the wind turns directly onshore, but even then it's still a moderate breeze, and the swell is a messy 6ft at 9 seconds from the west. The surf reports are all "poor surf conditions" with scores of 0 out of 10. This pattern just keeps repeating day after day. We're talking about a solid 10-day stretch of no-go conditions. The swell does drop off a bit mid-week, getting down to 2ft to 4ft, with some very long-period groundswell (19 seconds on Monday the 13th afternoon), but the wind stays on it, ruining the shape.

The only real standout, and I use that term loosely, is the afternoon of Monday the 20th of July. We finally see a bit of a pulse with a 5ft swell from the south at 11 seconds, and the combined energy jumps up to 1271. The wind is still cross-on from the west-northwest, but it's a lighter breeze. For the first time in a while, the wave comment is "poor surf conditions" instead of a zero, which is a small step up. But even then, it's not going to be clean. The optimum swell direction for this reef is southwest, so that south swell isn't ideal.

Look, if you're a dedicated surfer, you might want to keep an eye on that Monday the 20th afternoon, but don't get your hopes up. The winds are stubborn. For most of this period, with the strong onshore flow and decent size, this setup is honestly looking more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Rusty

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