Piha-The Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let’s talk about what’s on the menu for Piha.

First off, the big story for the next couple of weeks is that we’ve got a serious run of heavy, powerful SW groundswell hammering the coast. The combined energy numbers are massive, hitting 6798 on Monday morning, and staying in the thousands for days. This isn’t a beginner’s playground. At 13 ft, that’s big, powerful, and dangerous. The water temp is sitting at 57°, which is close to average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

Now, for the here and now. Monday morning, the 24th of August, is about as raw as it gets. The swell is at 13 ft from the WSW, with a 14-second period. That’s a lot of water moving around. The wind is a cross-offshore out of the SW at 12 mph, which will keep things clean for the advanced crew. The combined energy is a staggering 6798, so this is proper, powerful groundswell. This is for the experienced only. The afternoon sees the wind ease a touch to 9 mph and go more cross-shore, but the swell holds at 13 ft with a 15-second period. It’s still a beast.

Tuesday, the 25th, the swell drops to 10 ft, but the wind turns ugly. It’s a cross-onshore breeze from the WSW at 12 mph, and the combined energy is still huge at 4407. The quality is shot, and the scores reflect that. This continues through Wednesday and Thursday, with the swell slowly dropping from 8 ft down to 6 ft, but the wind stays cross-onshore, creating chop and messing up the lines.

We hit a bit of a lull on Friday the 28th. The swell drops to around 3 ft, and the wind is onshore from the north. It’s pretty poor, with combined energy dropping to 776. This is the low point of the run.

The weekend brings a bit of a mixed bag. Saturday the 29th sees the swell back up to 6 ft from the WSW, with a 12-second period, but the wind is cross-shore. It’s a bit lumpy, but rideable. Then Sunday the 30th is a weird one: the swell is small at 3 ft, but the period is an incredible 18 seconds. That’s very long period groundswell, which means it’ll be clean and peeling at the right spots, but very inconsistent. The wind though, is a fresh 19 mph cross-shore, making it lumpy. The energy is still moderate at 1256.

The big, raw swell returns on Monday the 31st of August. Swell jumps to 12 ft from the SW, with a shorter 10-second period, and the wind is a fresh 19 mph cross-shore. The combined energy is back up to 3105. It’s messy, powerful, and for experts only.

The first week of September is a write-off for quality. The swell holds at 10 ft to 12 ft, but the wind is either strong cross-onshore or, on the 4th and 5th of September, straight onshore from the northwest at 22 to 25 mph, with rain and even a risk of thunderstorms. The conditions are poor, this is more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle board.

The best window of the entire outlook is the morning of Monday the 7th of September. The wind goes glassy, dead calm, out of the ENE at 3 mph. The swell is a solid 8 ft from the WSW with a 14-second period, and the combined energy is 2292. This is excellent for experienced surfers. The conditions are clean, the sets will be powerful and long. This is the standout. That morning is the one to circle.

The following Tuesday, the 8th, sees the swell back to 7 ft with a very long 19-second period, but the wind is onshore from the NW. The energy is huge at 5612, but the wind messes it up.

So, the honest call: the best surf by far is the glassy morning on Monday the 7th of September. That’s your moment. Everything else is either too big, too windy, or a bit of a battle. The rest of the time, it’s a battle of power against the wind.

Rusty.

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