Karekare Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. It’s a quiet scene for the next week or so at Karekare, but there’s a window worth watching. The first solid surf doesn’t really show up until around Wednesday 2nd September, when a big south-west groundswell starts rolling in. Before that, the coast is pretty much closed out by messy and dangerous conditions.

Now, on Wednesday 2nd September morning, we start to get something a little more promising. The swell comes up to 10 ft from the west-southwest with a long 14-second period – proper groundswell. The wind is light and offshore from the west at 9 mph, which is about as clean as it gets. However, you need to be an expert to paddle out in this – that’s heavy water. The combined energy is strong at 3701. That morning looks like the real standout in the whole range, with glassy conditions and a lot of power. But keep in mind, the crowds can show up here sometimes, and with that long period, the sets will be fat and straight at times; a point or reef would handle it better, but on the day, it’ll be a mighty sight.

Later that same afternoon, the wind picks up a bit and the clean window closes – still big, but getting bumpy.

Heading into the weekend, Saturday 5th September has another clean-ish morning with light cross-onshore wind and a 10 ft west-southwest swell, but it’s still too big for most. The water temperature sits around 57°F currently, which is about average for this time of year – no anomaly worth mentioning.

The following week, Monday 7th September, sees another big pulse – 15 ft west-northwest swell with offshore winds and clean conditions, but again, that’s only for the brave. The energy reading soars to 13256 that afternoon – very strong wave energy. Not a beginner’s day.

Things actually start to ease off around Wednesday 9th September. The swell drops to 6 ft from the west-southwest, but the wind is cross-shore and light – the surf is weak and marginal, with combined energy down to 990. Not worth the paddle.

By Saturday 12th September the wind swings offshore from the east at 9 mph, with a 10 ft west swell but long period – too much size for most, and only experts will be sliding.

If there’s one standout session, make it Wednesday 2nd September morning – light offshore, solid southwest groundswell, and clean. After that, the rest of the forecast window is either too big or too messy for a good paddle. There’s a big gap of quiet, small surf from the 9th onward.

Stay safe out there.

Rusty

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