Piha-The Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve been staring at the charts for Piha-The Bar. It’s gonna be a bit of a slow burner for the next week, but there’s a proper window of fire coming in the second week that’ll wake you up.

Right now, it’s a quiet start. Tuesday (14th July) is messy—cross-on wind, bumpy, not worth your time. Wednesday (15th July) starts to show some life. The swell is building from the WSW with a super long period of 18 seconds, which is proper groundswell energy. That long period will make for some serious lines, but at a beach break like Piha, it can get a bit straight and tricky. Still, it’s a powerful 6 ft in the morning, and by Wednesday afternoon, it’s cranking to 10 ft. That’s big, expert-only territory. The wind is light and offshore from the NW, so the morning session will be clean. The combined swell energy is huge (2901 in the morning, 5131 in the afternoon). This is a standout for the first week.

Thursday (16th July) holds the 10 ft swell in the morning with light offshore NNW wind, but things get a bit cross-onshore and choppy by the afternoon. Friday (17th July) keeps the size around 8 ft to 10 ft, but the wind swings to a moderate SW cross-shore, so it’s not as clean. The afternoon does get a cross-offshore cleaner feel, so there’s a window there for experienced surfers.

Now, the real gold is on Sunday, 19th July. The morning is a beauty: 10 ft SW swell with a very long 17-second period, combined energy of 5794, and light ESE cross-offshore wind. That’s clean, powerful, and the forecast calls it exceptional for expert surfers. This is the standout of the entire 16-day run. The afternoon is still excellent, with 8 ft and clean cross-offshore wind.

Monday (20th July) is still good in the morning—7 ft, clean offshore wind from the ESE, and a solid 15-second period. After that, the swell drops and the wind picks up, so things get marginal from Tuesday (21st July) onwards. There’s a gap from Wednesday (22nd July) through to Saturday (25th July) where the swell is small (2 ft to 4 ft) and the wind is strong, up to 22 mph, making it poor for surfing. The water temp is about 58°F, which is pretty normal for this time of year, so no wetsuit surprises.

The run finally picks up again on Sunday, 26th July, with a 6 ft SW swell and moderate cross-offshore wind, but it’s nothing special. The last few days of the month (27th-29th July) are marginal at best, with cross-on and cross-shore winds ruining the shape.

So, for the whole stretch: the Wednesday 15th July afternoon and especially the Sunday 19th July morning are your best bets. Sunday 19th is the one to circle—big, clean, and powerful. Just remember, that 10 ft is for experts only; beginners stay out. Piha is an exposed beach break, so expect crowds sometimes, especially when it’s firing.

Rusty.

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