Kawaihae Breakwater Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's get into the only game in town for the next couple of weeks: Kawaihae Breakwater. This is a reef setup on the Big Island, and it's a spot that's fairly consistent, so it's not going to stay flat forever. We've got a bit of a slow start, but there's a window of quality on the horizon.

Right off the bat, the water temp is sitting at a comfortable 82°F, which is pretty much dead average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

We are looking at a bit of a wait to start. The first couple of days are pretty weak. Sunday and Monday morning are just small and ordinary. The combined swell energy is low, around 182, and it's a 3-foot SW swell. It's rideable, but nothing to get excited about.

Then, things start to fire up. The standout window kicks off Monday afternoon. The swell bumps up to 5 feet from the SW, with a nice long 14-second period giving it some real groundswell grunt. The energy jumps right up to 765, and the wind goes dead calm, glassy conditions. That's the session to point for. This long period stuff loves a reef setup like Kawaihae, and with that offshore wind direction in the sweet spot, it should be lining up nicely. It's not too big for the average surfer, but that period means you'll want to be on your game as the sets roll through.

Tuesday afternoon is another strong look. It's a touch bigger, hitting 5 feet from the W, with energy at 676, and again, glassy conditions. This is the other pick of the first week.

After that, the swell drops off a cliff. From Wednesday the 9th onward, it gets small, weak, and inconsistent. There are a few days with clean offshore winds in the morning, but the swell is just too small to do much with—think ankle-to-knee-high dribble. The energy values drop into the double digits, and you're looking at a solid run of poor conditions through to mid-September.

There is a very minor blip around the 15th to the 17th where the swell energy creeps back up to the low 100s, but the wave height is still only 1 feet. It's a very marginal improvement at best. The rest of the forecast is tiny and essentially flat for any real surfing, with persistent offshore winds just blowing over nothing.

So, to sum it up: don't bother with the opening days. Your absolute best bet is Monday afternoon the 7th, and if you miss that, Tuesday afternoon the 8th is the backup. After that, the board stays in the bag for a long stretch.

Rusty.

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