Polihale Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righteo, let's take a look at what's on the cards for the next couple of weeks. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s a sweet window of clean, long-period groundswell that will have the sandbars at Polihale looking pretty special.

Water temp is sitting at 79°, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so no worries there.

The real standout is the stretch from Tuesday the 14th through to Friday the 17th. We’ve got a consistent, long-period groundswell from the west, with swell heights hovering around 3 ft to 3 ft. The period is a solid 16 seconds early on, dropping to 14 seconds by Thursday, but that’s still plenty of energy. The combined energy readings are moderate, hitting up to 503 on Tuesday afternoon, with a slow, powerful pulse. The best part? The wind is looking light and favourable – mostly cross-offshore from the east or southeast, and Wednesday morning and Friday are absolutely glassy. That’s a major positive; you’ll be looking at peaky, clean waves.

Tuesday morning (14th) is a good warm-up, with some clouds and a light cross-off breeze. The swell is 3 ft from the west with a 16-second period. It’s a long-period groundswell, so it’ll be walling up nicely on this exposed sandbar, with long lulls between sets making it easy to get out the back. It’s a fairly consistent spot, but crowds are possible here, so get in early.

Wednesday the 15th looks like the pick of the bunch. Glassy conditions in the morning with a 3 ft west swell and a 15-second period. The water will be like a mirror. The afternoon stays clean with a light offshore from the southeast. This is where you want to be.

Thursday the 16th is another solid day, clean and smooth with a 3 ft west swell, though the period drops to 14 seconds. Still very good.

Friday the 17th is a beauty as well. Glassy conditions all day, with a slightly smaller 2 ft west swell. The energy is dropping – 227 in the morning – but for a relaxing session on a clean, long-period swell, you can’t beat it.

After that, things get a bit sad. From Saturday the 18th right through until the end of the month, it’s mostly flat or very weak. We get a few tiny pulses of windswell from the northeast, but they’re short-period and lack any real punch. The energy readings drop to single digits and low double digits. There’s an almost two-week gap with no real surf to speak of. The 24th of July offers a tiny 3 ft, 6-second windswell from the northeast, but it’s pretty ordinary. The rest of the period is a write-off for a paddler. Given the flat, choppy conditions, this setup might be more interesting for kite surfing than traditional surfing.

So, mark your calendar for the 15th and 17th of July. That’s the peak of the window. Get it while you can, because after that, the sandbar will be quiet for a long time.

Rusty.

Read more