Leffingwell Landing Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

The next 16 days at Leffingwell Landing (Big Island) have a few moments worth paddling out for, but there’s a whole lot of waiting around for the conditions to line up. The main event is a solid, clean window on Tuesday morning the 21st, but before that, it’s a pretty slow grind. After that, we get into a bit of a messy stretch with building energy but poor wind.

Right now, from Friday morning the 17th, there’s just not much to get excited about. The swell is a messy 6ft from the NW on Friday morning with a short period of 8 seconds, and the wind is on it. The combined energy is strong (1111) but the quality is rated poor. Friday afternoon drops to a tiny 2ft, and the whole weekend stays small—around 3ft to 3ft—with a long period (17-18 seconds) but onshore winds that keep it all jumbled. The energy is moderate (618-765). You’re looking at a few days of marginal surf at best.

Now, the standout. Tuesday morning, July 21st is the one to circle. The swell picks up to 5ft from the SSW with a solid 12-second period, and the combined energy jumps to 1216 (strong). The wind is glassy—dead flat, offshore from the WSW at 5 km/h. That’s the golden ticket. The water temp is about average for the time of year, which is fine. This is a wave for experienced surfers, as the size is pushing into the more powerful range. The afternoon is still rideable at 4ft (SSW, 11 seconds), but the wind goes onshore, so morning is the call.

After that, the week from Wednesday the 22nd through the end of July is a bit of a mixed bag. The swell drops back to 3ft on Wednesday morning, then builds again through the 23rd and 24th with a lot of cross-onshore wind and short periods (7-9 seconds). The energy gets moderate to strong (394-690), but the wind is a problem. By Sunday the 26th and Monday the 27th, the energy is very strong (1228-1976), but the wind is moderate, cross-onshore, and choppy. The swell is 3ft to 4ft from the SSW, but the period is long (18-19 seconds), which is good for a reef setup like this, but the wind is ruining the surface. This is more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing one.

The final week has a couple of small windows. Thursday morning, July 30th sees a small 2ft SSW swell with glassy conditions again from the WSW at 5 km/h. The combined energy is moderate (509). It’s not big, but it’ll be clean. The rest of the time, it’s small and marginal.

In short: the one true standout is Tuesday morning, July 21st. Glassy, solid, and clean. The rest is a lot of waiting for a few clean windows on smaller days.

Rusty.

Read more