Kahului Harbor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty comin’ at you from the harbor. Let’s get straight into it.

Honestly, the next couple of weeks are gonna be a real grind for us at Kahului Harbor. This is a reef break for the advanced crew, but the conditions just aren’t cooperating. The water is a warm 79°, which is pretty much spot on for this time of year, so that’s at least something to smile about.

We kick off with a pretty bleak stretch. From Friday the 17th right through to the 22nd, the wind is a constant problem. It’s either cross or cross-on, and the wave energy is weak to moderate. The swell is a messy, short-period 4ft to 4ft from the ENE. It’s just not doing anything for us. Expect a solid week of poor surf conditions.

There’s a little flicker of something on Thursday the 23rd morning. The swell picks up to 5ft with a period of 11 seconds, and the energy jumps up – that’s the first sign of some proper groundswell. But the wind is still cross, and the forecast is only calling it marginal. It’s a tease, more than anything. The afternoon drops right back off.

Then we hit a longer gap. Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th are back to the same old story: poor surf with cross winds.

Now, the real talking point is the period from Sunday the 26th of July through to Tuesday the 29th. We get a big, long-period groundswell from the E. The swell size pushes up to 6ft to 7ft, with periods of 14 to 17 seconds – that’s very long period. The energy is insane. The problem? The wind is still cross-on, and the forecast is only marginal. For a reef break like this, that long period swell is usually a good thing, but it’s not going to be clean. It’s a powerful, messy beast. If you’re a hardcore expert and you don’t mind the chop, there might be some big, lumpy sets to pull into, but don’t expect anything pretty. The 5ft to 7ft range is getting too big for beginners, and over 8ft it’s not, so it’s right in the experienced zone.

The very best option in this whole window is Tuesday the 28th of July morning. The swell is still a solid 7ft from the E, with a period of 14 seconds, and the wind is a light breeze from the NE. That light cross-on is the cleanest we’ll see all period. The energy is still very strong. It’s the standout, but it’s still a marginal call. It’s the one session to keep an eye on if you’re willing to gamble.

After that, things fade out. The first week of August sees the swell drop back to tiny 2ft to 5ft with poor wind. This is a blank run, plain and simple. For this area, a run of a few days with no recommendations is not unusual, but having almost two weeks of poor to marginal is a bummer.

Rusty signing out.

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