Piha-The Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, we’ve got a mixed bag coming our way for Piha-The-Bar over the next couple of weeks. The first few days are a bit of a write-off with small, messy surf, but there is a proper pulse of energy building for the second week that’ll get the heart racing. The standout windows are Thursday the 13th and Thursday the 20th of August—those are your best bets for a clean, solid session.

Let’s kick off with the water temp at Piha-The-Bar (New Zealand). It’s sitting at 57°F, which is pretty much standard for this time of year with a slight negative anomaly of -1°F—nothing to write home about, just your typical winter chill.

The first real action worth paddling out for is on Thursday morning, 6th August. The swell is a clean 5ft from the SW with a 12-second period (solid groundswell) and a southeast offshore breeze of 10 km/h. The wave energy is moderate (833). It’s not a monster, but it’s clean and lined up—good for an advanced crew. Thursday afternoon drops off to 4ft and goes a bit cross-off, so the morning is the call.

Friday the 7th starts off glassy with a tiny 3ft SW swell (203 energy), but it’s glassy as—basically a longboard or finless session. The afternoon gets blown out.

Now, there’s a big gap of nothing really worth mentioning from Saturday the 8th through to Tuesday the 11th. The swell gets small, messy, and the wind turns onshore or cross-on. We see a little pulse on Monday the 10th with 7ft from the NW, but it’s cross-on and choppy—marginal at best.

Things start shaping up on Wednesday the 12th with a 5ft SW swell in the afternoon, but it’s still a touch cross-on. Not a standout.

Here’s where we get excited: Thursday the 13th of August is your first true standout. Both morning and afternoon sessions are glassy with a light NNE or WSW breeze at 5 km/h. The morning hits 7ft from the W with a 13-second period—solid groundswell—and energy is strong (1880). That’s expert territory. The afternoon is 6ft from the W, also glassy (1533 energy). This is clean, powerful SW groundswell hitting Piha perfectly. Expect a crowd of experts because this is as good as it gets for a winter’s day.

Friday the 14th sees a jump in energy (2217 in the morning) but with a 5ft SW swell and onshore NW wind—messy. The afternoon gets proper nasty with rain and 25 km/h cross-on wind.

Saturday the 15th of August is a huge day, but it’s too big for Piha. Swell hits 18ft to 20ft from the WSW with energy readings over 20,000—absolutely massive. That’s not paddle surf; that’s big-wave tow or maybe kite territory. The wind is cross and cross-on, so the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Sunday the 16th drops to 13ft and 12ft with cross-shore winds—still big and lumpy, but the crowd might be thinner. Not a beginner’s day.

Monday the 17th sees 10ft from the WSW with clean cross-off SSE winds at 20 km/h. Energy is very strong (6397). This is for experienced surfers only, and with clean conditions, it could be a heavy session.

Tuesday the 18th is similar: 8ft to 7ft SW groundswell, cross-off S winds, clean but solid. Crowd potential is there.

Thursday the 20th of August is your second standout. Both morning and afternoon are glassy with 4ft SW swell, but the period is long—18 to 19 seconds—and energy is strong (1446 and 1225). This is very long-period groundswell, which means clean, powerful lines peeling off Piha’s bar. It’s perfect for reef and point setups, and with no wind, it’s glassy perfection. The crowd is likely to be there, but you’ll forgive them.

Overall, the best windows are Thursday 13th and Thursday 20th. The 13th offers bigger, more powerful swell for advanced surfers, while the 20th is slightly smaller but just as clean and glassy. The rest of the period has a lot of marginal or blown-out days, with a massive pulse mid-month that’s simply too big for a paddle.

Keep your eyes on the forecast—this is a dynamic winter run, and those glassy windows are gold.

Rusty.

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