Piha-The Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, it’s Rusty here. Let’s talk about the lineup coming up for Piha-The-Bar over the next couple of weeks.

The main thing to know is that this place is a classic exposed SW-facing beach setup, so it needs the right angle to shine. The first few days are a bit lumpy, but there’s a real standout window from Wednesday the 5th through to Monday the 10th, with the best of it looking like Wednesday morning.

Right now, Sunday morning the 2nd, we’ve got a solid 7ft SW swell with a 12-second period and a clean-looking surface thanks to a light SSE cross-off breeze. The energy’s moderate to strong (1271). The water’s sitting at 58°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year. It’s surfable but nothing to write home about. Sunday afternoon holds similar with a 6ft SW swell and lighter winds.

Monday the 3rd is where things get messy. A big 19-second period SW groundswell but with a strong WSW cross-shore wind at 15-19 mph making it lumpy. The energy jumps right up (2131 to 2883), but the quality isn’t there. Tuesday the 4th is still a bit windy with fresh SW winds, though the afternoon cleans up a little with a cross-off breeze.

Now, Wednesday morning the 5th is the real highlight. This is the standout of the whole run. We’ve got an 8ft SW swell with a 14-second period and a clean offshore breeze from the SSE at 16 mph. The energy is strong (2739), and the conditions are set up for experienced surfers only. This is the one to pencil in.

Thursday morning the 6th drops back to 5ft, light offshore, clean and glassy – a good option for a smaller board. Friday the 7th goes tiny with 2ft, near glassy in the morning, but it’s basically a write-off. Saturday the 8th is even smaller.

Then Sunday the 9th picks up a little with a 4ft WSW swell, but the wind is onshore, so it’s average. The next real standout is Monday the 10th – glassy conditions, 5ft WSW swell with a 16-second period, energy moderate to strong (1615). That’s a lovely window for a morning session.

Tuesday the 11th stays clean with a cross-off breeze and a 4ft WSW swell, but the size drops. Wednesday the 12th gets messy with building swell and onshore winds, then Thursday the 13th sees an 12ft WSW swell with a 17-second period, but it’s accompanied by light rain and cross-shore wind – too big and lumpy for most. Friday the 14th morning cleans up with a cross-off and 6ft, but the afternoon gets blown out.

The last weekend—Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th—looks pretty average. The swell is big (7ft to 10ft) but with rain and iffy winds, not worth chasing.

So, bottom line: if you’re going to paddle out, make it Wednesday morning the 5th or Monday morning the 10th. Everything else is either too windy, too small, or too messy.

Rusty.

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