Raglan-Manu Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s have a look at the next couple of weeks.

Alright, Raglan. Manu Bay is the spot we’re talking about here. It’s fair to say the start of this run is pretty ordinary. Saturday the 25th of July is a write-off – howling westerlies and a messed up ocean. You wouldn’t even look at it. We’ve got a massive 16 ft swell on Saturday afternoon, but it’s ugly and blown out with a combined energy reading of 7907, which is enormous, but completely unusable for us. Let’s just skip that.

The real deal starts to show on Sunday the 26th. Sunday morning is looking mint. We’ve got a solid 10 ft W groundswell, with a very long 15-second period pushing in, and the wind is a light, clean cross-off from the ESE at 6 mph. The combined swell energy is 4075, so it’s got proper grunt. This is excellent surf for experienced surfers – that’s the standout of the whole run. The water temp is sitting on 58°F, which is bang on average for this time of year, nothing weird there.

Sunday afternoon stays good with a 8 ft WSW swell and light cross-off wind, still clean and strong. Then Monday the 27th morning holds in at 6 ft (1245 energy) with clean conditions. It’s all very good, but by Monday afternoon the wind swings around and gets cross, messing the shape up a bit, and the score drops.

Tuesday the 28th is worth a paddle. Morning is clean with a 4 ft WSW swell and glassy offshores from the ENE at just 3 mph. That’s a fun morning on a longboard or a fish. The energy is low at 437 but it’s clean. Wednesday the 29th drops right off – tiny 3 ft surf, not much happening. There’s a bit more size on Thursday the 30th but the wind is a bit scratchy.

Now, here’s a heads-up: we hit a bit of a funk. From Thursday afternoon through to Saturday the 1st of August morning, it’s a bit messy, but then the wind goes glassy on Friday afternoon the 31st. That’s a sneaky good session – 6 ft WSW swell with glassy conditions, energy at 1433. That’s a real treat if you can get out. Saturday the 1st of August is clean again with a 6 ft WSW swell and gentle offshore winds. Good solid weekend waves.

Sunday the 2nd of August is another beauty – 7 ft WSW swell and glassy conditions in the afternoon. That’s excellent for experienced surfers. But after that, Monday the 3rd of August kicks up a notch into 8 ft and then 10 ft, but with strong winds, so it’s lumpy. That’s only for the experienced crew, and even then it’s marginal.

After that, the surf slowly winds down through the week, with some clean but small waves on Friday the 7th of August (3 ft) and then very small into the second weekend. By Sunday the 9th of August, it’s down to 1.0 ft and not worth getting wet. The run fizzles out.

So, to wrap it up: Sunday the 26th of July morning is the standout, with that big 10 ft groundswell and clean offshores. The second best is Sunday the 2nd of August afternoon for the glassy 7 ft conditions. Everything else is small, clean but small, or blown out. If you’re a beginner, stay away from anything over 5 ft here – that Sunday morning surf is only for the experienced crew.

Rusty.

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