LHermitage Left Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the next 16 days are looking pretty grim for a proper paddle. We’ve got L’Hermitage Left (Réunion) on the radar, but honestly, it’s a real struggle. The water is sitting at 25°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only good news.

We start on Tuesday, 1st September with a tiny 2ft NE swell, period a short 6 seconds, and the combined energy is a weak 43. The wind is light but onshore, so it’s messy. The surf is just poor. That sets the tone. Wednesday the 2nd and Thursday the 3rd are similar – knee-high dribble, 1ft to 2ft, with very weak energy readings (42, 32, 24). The wind does go glassy on Thursday morning, which is a tease, but with only 1ft of swell, there’s nothing to ride.

Friday the 4th through Sunday the 6th are more of the same. We see a few glassy windows, especially Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, but the swell is barely a ripple. The combined energy on Sunday afternoon drops to a pathetic 7. It’s dead.

Then from Monday the 7th right through to the 12th, the swell flatlines completely. Day after day of zeros in the energy column. The wind picks up from the south, making it even choppier and less appealing. A couple of glassy mornings pop up on the 9th and 10th, but with no swell, it’s just a pretty lake. This is a real lull.

Now, we get a tiny flicker of life on Saturday the 12th. A 4ft SSE swell shows up, but the period is a shocking 5 seconds – that’s pure wind chop, not a wave you want to paddle into. The wind is cross-onshore, and the energy is still only 77. It’s poor. Sunday the 13th gets blown out by strong southerlies and a risk of thunderstorms.

The only true standout, if you can call it that, is Tuesday the 15th. The morning is a washout with a 30 km/h offshore NNE wind, but the afternoon gets interesting. We get a 4ft SE swell with a combined energy of 104 – the first time we see three-digit energy in the whole forecast. The wind is a clean cross-offshore from the north at 16 mph. This is a real window of opportunity for experienced surfers. The swell direction is from the SE, which is off from the optimum N direction for this spot, and the period is short at 6 seconds, so it’ll be a bit lumpy and fast. But for this stretch, it’s the best we’re going to get.

So, to sum it up: there’s a massive gap of flat, poor surf from the start until the 15th. That Tuesday afternoon is the only time worth checking. The rest is a write-off. For a spot that’s inconsistent, this blank run is a bit more normal than we’d like. Don’t bother paddling out before that Tuesday – just keep the board in the car.

Rusty.

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