Ma'alaea Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. The next couple of weeks are a lesson in patience – we’ve got a solid window of small, clean, but pretty gutless surf for the most part. It’s gonna feel like a waiting game until that last week of August rolls around, and that’s where the real story is. The energy is weak for almost the entire stretch, but there’s a proper pulse of southwest groundswell that shows up around the 27th and 28th that will wake the reef up.

For the first few days, Monday the 17th through the weekend, we’re looking at ankle to knee-high dribble. Every session is ‘surfable’ but ordinary – nothing to get excited about. The combined energy is weak, reading between 139 and 336. The swell is all over the place in direction, but it’s just not doing the job. The plus side? The winds are super light, glassy on most mornings, which is always a good thing for keeping the surface clean, but there’s just no push behind it.

We finally see a slight bump in energy on Friday the 21st with the combined swell energy hitting 275, but it’s still just small – around 2ft at 17 seconds. That long period is a tease. There’s nothing to do but wax the board and wait.

Now, the standout window: Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th. This is where it gets interesting. The combined swell energy rockets up to 682 on Thursday morning, then hits a massive 1109 on Friday afternoon. We’re talking swell heights climbing from 4ft to a solid 6ft by Friday arvo, with a strong 12-second period from the SSW. This is the real deal. The break is Ma’alaea (Maui), a shallow, fast reef that loves south swell, and this matches its optimum S direction perfectly. The wind is offshore or light cross-off, so it’s gonna be glassy and clean. This is expert territory though – over 5ft on a reef this shallow is not for the faint of heart. If you’re a beginner, stay well clear. For the crew who know, Thursday and Friday are your days.

Saturday the 29th still holds solid size – around 6ft in the morning with energy at 1086 – but the direction swings a bit more westerly, and it’s not quite as clean. Still, it’s a strong finish to the week before it fades out again to smaller, weaker surf as we head into the start of September.

The very end of the run, the 31st and 1st of September, has a modest bump to 2-2.5ft with energy climbing back into the 400s, but it’s not the same quality as the 27th. The water temp is a touch above average at 80.4°, nothing wild.

So, mark your calendar for the 27th and 28th. That’s the one. Before that, it’s small, clean, and a bit of a slog. After that, it backs off again. Make the most of that window.

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