Kawaihae Breakwater Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty.

Look, I’ll be straight with you – we’re in a bit of a flat spell for the next week and a half. The only spot on the menu is Kawaihae Breakwater (Hawaii), and it’s a reef setup that’s fairly consistent, but the swell’s barely ticking over for most of the run. Expect a long gap of nothing special from now until late in the month.

The first real sign of life pops up on Wednesday 19th August, and even then it’s barely a ripple. We’re looking at weak 0.4m WNW swell with a period of 12 seconds – that’s enough to push a little shape through, but the combined wave energy is just 73 – that’s weak stuff (73). The saving grace is the wind: glassy in the morning with a light N breeze at 5 km/h, then a clean offshore NE at 10 km/h in the afternoon. It’ll be surfable but very ordinary.

Thursday 20th August and Friday 21st August are more of the same – tiny 0.3m to 0.4m SW swell with a decent 16 to 18 second period. That long period groundswell is nice in theory, but the size just isn’t there, and the combined energy stays under 90 (73 to 88). Mornings are glassy, afternoons clean. Still very ordinary. Not worth rushing out for.

There’s a real dead spot through Saturday 22nd until Thursday 27th August – the swell drops to 0.2m to 0.3m at best, and the combined energy craters into single digits or low tens (11, 14). One of those stretches where a glassy ocean just means you’re looking at a mirror. No juice.

Finally, on Friday 28th August, things start to wake up. Swell ticks up to 0.4m from the west, 15 to 16 seconds, and combined energy hits 88 (77 in the afternoon). Still only a 1 out of 10, but the wind is glassy to offshore light breeze. Saturday 29th August is the standout of the whole outlook: 0.6m west swell, 14 seconds, and the combined energy finally breaks triple digits at 147 in the morning and 159 in the afternoon. Wind is a light offshore from NE to ENE at 5 km/h. Clean, small, but actually surfable with a bit of push. This is the best on offer – the swell direction (W) matches the optimum (W) for the break, and with that long period it’ll wrap in nicely over the reef. Crowds are sometimes a thing here, so you might have a few friends out.

Sunday 30th August and Monday 31st August hold similar 0.5m to 0.6m west swell, but the period drops to 12-13 seconds and the energy stays in the 136 to 177 range. Wind stays clean offshore. Still surfable, but not as punchy as Saturday. By Tuesday 1st September, it’s back to 0.5m west swell with 14 seconds and a gentle offshore NE breeze at 15 km/h.

No beginners should bother with anything above 1.5m here, and we never hit that. The water temp anomaly isn’t given, so I won’t guess, but the water is about average for the time of year.

Overall: if you’re desperate, Saturday 29th August is your window. The rest is either flat or very ordinary. Keep an eye on it though – when this place turns on, it can be a gem.

Stay salty,
Rusty

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