Kahului Harbor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, looking at Kahului Harbor for the next couple of weeks. I gotta be honest, it’s a tough stretch. The wind is going to be a real headache for most of it, and we’ve got a long dry spell before anything even starts to look interesting.

Right from the start on Monday the 17th and through most of the first week, the surf is just not happening. We’re dealing with cross-shore and cross-onshore winds kicking up chop all day, with wave heights around 3 ft to 5 ft. The swell energy is weak to moderate, and the period is a short 7 to 8 seconds. That’s all just wind swell with no power. The water temp is about 80°, which is pretty normal for this time of year.

There’s a little window on Thursday the 20th afternoon when the wind drops and it goes glassy. But the swell is only 2 ft from the east with a weak pulse, and the period is still a short 7 seconds. You could paddle out for a splash, but don't expect much.

Then into the second week, around the 26th of August, the swell starts building. We’re seeing 8 ft to 8 ft from the east-northeast with strong energy, and the period finally stretches to 10 seconds by the 30th. That’s a real groundswell with some grunt. There's even a reading of 1241 on the combined energy on the morning of Sunday the 30th. The problem is, the wind is still cross-shore or cross-onshore at 12 to 16 mph, so it’s going to be lumpy and chopped up. For a reef break like this, the long period and east swell are not the ideal match, and the wind will make it messy.

The morning of Sunday the 30th and the afternoon of Tuesday the 1st of September have the best-looking conditions on paper, but honestly, the trade winds are just ruining it. If you’re an expert and want to wrestle with a 7 ft to 7 ft east swell, you could try, but it won't be clean. For beginners, anything over 5 ft is too big here.

So the short version is there’s no standout session. The wind is the whole story. It’s a blank run that’s kind of normal for this area when the trades get locked in. If you’ve got a kite, those afternoons with the breeze and solid swell might look more fun than paddling. For a surfboard? You’ll want to wait for the forecast to change.

Rusty.

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