Rabbit/Manana Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Imperial

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

Well, I gotta be straight with you – this is a tough one. For the whole 16-day window, from Tuesday, August 25th, right through to Wednesday, September 9th, it’s a complete write-off for any decent surf at Rabbit/Manana Island (Oahu). The wind is just relentless. We’re looking at a solid 16-day stretch of no recommendations, nothing worth paddling out for.

The only break on the cards is Rabbit/Manana Island, and it’s just not happening. The water temp is sitting at a pretty average 81 °F, so nothing unusual there for the time of year.

The problem is that persistent, strong ENE wind. It’s howling at 19 to 28 mph almost every day, blowing straight across or onshore, making a mess of things. The waves are there, with swell heights hanging around 3 ft to 6 ft, but the period is short – mostly 6 to 8 seconds. That’s weak, wind-driven junk. The combined energy values are all over the place, from 235 up to 923, which tells you there’s a lot of churned-up, angry water, but no shape to it. The report calls it “poor surf conditions” every single time, and I can’t argue with that.

There’s a tease right at the very end, around the 4th and 5th of September, when the swell period jumps to 13 to 14 seconds, which is proper groundswell, and the energy gets real high. But the wind is still smashing it with a strong cross-onshore, ruining any chance of a clean wave. It’s a shame, because that long-period swell would be a dream on a point break, but here it’s just getting mangled.

Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for the kite surfers than for us paddle guys. The wind is strong and consistent, but the waves are just lumpy, chopped-out slop. Grab a beer, watch the forecast, and hope the wind swings around. It tends not to stay this poor forever, but for now, it’s a blank run.

Rusty.

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