Karekare Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Karekare has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. It’s a bit of a wild ride.

Right from the get-go, things are looking pretty average. We’ve got a few days of poor conditions with onshore and cross-onshore winds messing up the wave face. The swell builds through Sunday and Monday, but the wind just ruins it. The combined swell energy jumps from moderate 763 on Saturday morning to a huge 2772 by Sunday afternoon, but it’s all messy. There’s a solid 12ft swell on Sunday and a massive 15ft on Monday, but with WNW and SW winds blowing on it, you’d be fighting a losing battle.

There’s a real gap in quality surfing here. After Monday the 24th, the forecast goes straight into a run of marginal conditions with questionable tides and poor surf quality flags from Tuesday through to the following Sunday. The swell drops off but the energy is still there, with readings like 2413 and 1512 showing moderate to strong energy, but the wind isn’t playing ball. It’s not until the very end of the window that we see a real standout.

The best session on offer looks to be Thursday the 3rd of September. The forecast shows a 15ft to 16ft WSW swell with a period of 12-13 seconds. Now, that’s a big, powerful groundswell. The combined swell energy is massive—7541 on the morning and 8463 on the afternoon. The key here is the wind. We’re seeing a light ESE breeze swinging cross-offshore, keeping the face clean. The afternoon swing to gentle offshore is your ticket. This is only for experienced surfers, no doubt. Anything over 8ft is for experts only, and this is double that. The water temp is around 57°, which is about average for this time of year with a slight negative anomaly, so a good 4/3 wetsuit is essential.

The day before, on Wednesday morning the 2nd, there’s a flicker of clean conditions with a cross-off shore from the ESE and a big 15ft W swell, but again, that’s expert-only territory. The real gem for experienced chargers is that Thursday.

To sum it up, the first week is mostly a write-off with poor to marginal surf thanks to wind and swell size issues. The second week is where the potential lives, but only for the crew who can handle serious size. If you’re a beginner, stay home until the 6th or 7th of September when things drop back under the 8ft mark, but even then the wind is still a bit tricky. For the rest of us, circle Thursday the 3rd of September on your calendar, but be prepared for a beast.

Rusty.

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