Kahului Harbor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve been staring at Kahului Harbor for the next couple of weeks and honestly, it’s a rough stretch for paddle surfing. The wind’s gonna be a pain for most of this run, with easterly trades blowing cross-shore or cross-onshore and keeping things choppy and messy. There’s a big spike of swell coming, but conditions won’t play ball until the very end, and even then the size is a problem.

The first week is pretty much a write-off. From Monday the 10th right through to Saturday the 15th, we’ve got poor surf conditions day in, day out. The swell is hanging around 4ft to 5ft from the ENE, but with a short period of 6 to 8 seconds, and that trade wind messing it up, it’s just not worth paddling out. The combined swell energy is weak to moderate at best, sitting around 147 to 258 for most of that time. Nothing to get excited about. Friday the 14th sees the swell bump up to 7ft morning and 7ft afternoon with a longer 12-second period in the arvo, so the combined energy jumps to 1232 – that’s moderate to strong – but the wind is still cross-onshore and choppy. It’s not clean enough. Saturday the 15th gets worse: the swell hits 8ft in the morning with a 12-second period and energy at 1923, then 12ft in the afternoon with 3388 energy, but the wind is onshore and lumpy, and there’s a risk of storms. That’s not surfable.

Then comes Sunday the 16th. This is the one standout in the whole window. We’ve got a massive 20ft swell from the ENE in the morning with a 12-second period – the combined energy is a whopping 8535 – and the wind swings offshore from the south at 25 km/h, making it clean. The report says wind and tide are favorable, but the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. At over 8ft, this is expert-only territory. Kahului Harbor is a reef setup, and while that long-period groundswell is better suited to a reef, 20ft is serious. The afternoon drops to 12ft with clean offshore wind from the SSW at 15 km/h, energy at 3899. It’s still huge. For the few who can handle it, the wave quality could be there – offshore wind, long period, exposed to the NNE optimum swell direction – but the sheer size is a barrier.

After that, from Monday the 17th through to Tuesday the 25th, it’s back to the same story: swell drops to 4ft to 5ft with short periods of 7 to 8 seconds, combined energy mostly under 300, and the trade winds blow cross-shore or cross-onshore again. Poor conditions, day after day. There’s a big gap of nothing recommended. The water temperature is 80° with a normal anomaly of 0.2°, so it’s about average for the time of year. But for the size of the waves, especially on that Sunday, it’s not beginner friendly.

If you’re a strong kiter, Saturday and Sunday could be interesting. The swell is big, the wind is strong, but for paddling, only Sunday the 16th offers a clean window, and even then it’s only for experts.

Stay safe out there.

Rusty.

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