Makaha Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. We’re looking at a real quiet stretch for Makaha over the next couple of weeks. The overall pattern ain't offering much to get excited about, with a lot of marginal conditions and not a single standout session that'll get the blood pumping. In fact, the first decent look doesn’t roll in until Thursday the 10th of September, and even then, it’s a bit of a tease.

Let’s break it down. Thursday the 10th of September morning, Makaha’s seeing a 4 ft groundswell out of the southwest. That's a long-period 15-second swell, bringing some decent but not huge energy (779), but the wind is a light cross-onshore from the southwest. The water temp is hanging right around average for this time of year, nothing weird there. It’s a real marginal call, with a “questionable tide” situation likely messing with the shape. Thursday afternoon goes downhill fast as the wind swings southerly and picks up to 12 mph, cross-shore, knocking the score to a real low.

Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th are a write-off. The swell drops to a short-period 8 seconds, the energy tanks below 500, and the wind stays cross-onshore or cross. It’s just poor surf all around.

Now, there’s a flicker of hope on Sunday the 14th of September. The swell drops in height to 3 ft, but that is a very long-period, 18-second groundswell from the southwest. The energy reading pops back up to 670, but the wind is still gentle cross-onshore, making for a choppy surface. It’s still a marginal situation at best.

We get a slight bump in quality on Tuesday the 16th of September. The morning shows a 4 ft swell from the southwest, dropping to a 15-second period, energy at 694. The wind is a light cross-shore, which is the cleanest wind we’ll see for a while. It’s still only scoring a 2 out of 10, so don’t expect perfection, but it’s the most promising window in the run. After that, it’s back to poor surf through til the end of the second week.

Honestly, the rest of the forecast into the third week of September shows small, weak, messy swell with cross-onshore winds almost every day. There's a pulse of 19-second groundswell on the 19th, but swell height is only 2 ft with a cross-name wind, so it’s a no-go. The only other thing worth noting is a bump on Friday the 25th of September – a 2 ft southwest swell with a 19-second period and offshore wind, which might be a morning gamble, but it's far out and the energy is only moderate at 522.

Because the break is a very consistent, exposed reef, even with that consistency, almost everything across these 16 days is shot through with poor wind or wrong tide. For the beginner-friendly crowd that Makaha usually pulls, the surf here is just too messy or too small. The stronger pulses around the 10th and 14th are there but don’t line up with clean conditions.

So, the hard truth is: there’s no real standout here. The best bet is to keep an eye on Tuesday the 16th of September morning for a few clean-ish lines, but keep the expectations low. Otherwise, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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