Puaena Point Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I'm looking at what's on offer for us at Puaena Point.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – for the next week, we're looking at a pretty flat and frustrating window. From now through July 11th, the trade winds are howling out of the ENE at 15 to 19 mph, and while it's a cross-off wind, the surf is just a mess. We've got a weak, short-period windswell bumping around 4 ft to 5 ft from the NE, but with a period of only 7 to 8 seconds, it's just not gonna have any push. The combined energy is weak. It's clean-looking, but it's poor surf conditions – the definition of "looks better than it is." That's about a week of paddling frustration.

Then things get weird. On July 12th, the morning shows a sudden spike in energy with a long-period 16-second swell from the SW. The problem is, the swell height is only 3 ft. That's a lot of energy for a small wave. The cross-off wind stays on it, but it's just marginal. The following days, from the 13th to the 15th, we see more of these long-period, groundswell pulses from the W and WNW, with periods of 16 to 18 seconds. The heights are tiny – 1 ft to 3 ft – but the energy readings are surprisingly high. Again, it's a marginal forecast; it's the kind of small, clean, long-period stuff that might give you a ride on a longboard if you're patient, but it's not a proper surf window.

The standout window – and I'm calling it now – kicks off on Thursday, July 16th. The winds drop right out to a light 6 mph breeze from the ENE. We still have that long-period W swell, with a 15-second period and about 3 ft. The combined energy is moderate, and the forecast literally says "expect good surf conditions." This is the real deal. It won't be big, but for Puaena Point, with light offshore-cross winds and that long-period groundswell wrapping in, it's the cleanest, most lined-up we're going to see. It'll be a proper point break session with some glassy peelers. This stretch continues into Friday morning the 17th with similar conditions.

After that, it fades. The energy drops, the surf gets smaller and weaker through the 19th and 20th of July, and we're back to poor conditions with no significant swell to speak of.

So in short: write off this week. July 16th and 17th are your window. It's not a big swell, but it's clean, long-period, and wind is right. That's the one to circle.

Water temp at Puaena Point is sitting at 80°F, which is pretty much spot on average for this time of year. No weird anomalies to worry about.

Here's hoping the forecast holds for that Thursday glass-off. Catch you in the water.

Rusty

Read more