Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty, and I've got to be straight with you looking at the Hikkaduwa stretch for the next 16 days. The bottom line is, it's a tough run. We're looking at a long stretch of poor surf conditions with barely a glimmer of hope. The water temp is sitting around 83°F with an anomaly of only 1°F, so it's pretty much what you'd expect for this time of year, warm and tropical.

The first chance for any sort of wave comes in on Tuesday, 25th August, but it's a write-off with risk of thunderstorms, onshore wind from the WSW at 12 mph, and only 4 ft of swell from the SSW. The combined energy is weak at 950, and it's labelled as poor. Don't even bother.

The whole pattern repeats for days. We get a bit of a bump in size from Thursday, 27th August, with morning swell hitting 6 ft from the SSW and a very long period of 19 seconds, which is proper groundswell energy. The combined energy jumps to 3237, so there's power, but the wind is onshore from the W at 12-15 mph and it's still labelled as poor surf. That long period will make it break too straight for the beach, and with the wind, it's just messy.

The biggest swell of the stretch hits on Monday, 31st August, with 7 ft to 8 ft from the SSW and periods around 17-18 seconds, giving combined energy over 3000. But again, the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, and it's all poor. This is getting into expert-only territory size-wise, but even then, the conditions are too ugly.

We finally see a slight shift on Thursday, 3rd September, when the afternoon shows a "marginal" score of 1/10, with 6 ft swell from the S at 13 seconds and cross-onshore wind from the WNW. It's the only time we get out of the "poor" category, but it's still not good. The combined energy is 1126, so moderate, but the wind is cross-onshore and choppy.

After that, from Friday, 4th September, through to Wednesday, 9th September, it's back to poor surf with small to moderate swell, onshore or cross-onshore winds, and combined energy dropping from 752 down to 506. The last few days on 8th and 9th September have a bit of swell energy, but it's all onshore and poor.

The only break we've got to look at is Inside Reef (Hikkaduwa), a reef that's fairly consistent and exposed to the SW swell. It's an advanced spot, and with the prevailing onshore wind, it's not going to be doing it any favours. The offshore direction is ENE, but we're not getting that. For a reef, you want it clean, and we're not getting that.

Honestly, this is a full 16-day blank. There's no standout period. If you're desperate, the biggest swell with the most energy is around the 31st August, but the wind kills it. Given the significant swell, poor surf quality, and strong onshore winds at a reef setup, this might be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Sometimes it's like that here, and the forecasts can change, but for now, it's a big fat zero.

Rusty.

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