Rainbow Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

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

We’ve got a bit of a waiting game on our hands. The next week and a half is pretty flat and messy, with only a tiny window of decent waves right at the start of the week. After that, it’s a long, quiet stretch until the very end of the forecast period, where a proper pulse of energy shows up.

The first real chance comes on Wednesday, 19 August. The morning is looking like the pick of the early period. We’ve got a solid 5ft SE swell rolling in with a nice 11-second period, which is a proper groundswell, and the wind is offshore from the SSE. That’s going to clean things up nicely. The combined swell energy is moderate (638). It’s a good, clean wave for a point break like Rainbow Bay, though with that longer period, it might be a bit more lined up than usual. The water temp is sitting at 68°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year.

Everything else before that is either too small, too onshore, or just plain messy. The morning of Thursday, 20 August, has some size but the wind is cross-off and the period drops to 8 seconds, making it a bit of a junky windswell. That’s pretty much it for the first week.

Then we hit a big, dry spell. From Friday, 21 August, all the way through to Monday, 31 August, the swells are tiny – mostly under 3ft – and the wind is consistently onshore from the north. It’s a flat, blown-out run. The combined energy readings are mostly in the double digits or low triple digits, which tells you just how weak it is. There’s a glassy morning on Sunday, 23 August, but the swell is only 3ft and from the ENE, so it’s not doing much. A few days in there are more interesting for a kite than a paddle if you’re into that.

Now, the real standout, and the one to circle on your calendar, is Wednesday, 2 September. This is a long-range call, so keep an eye on the forecasts, but it looks promising. We’ve got a 8ft S swell with a 9-second period and strong offshore winds from the S. The combined swell energy is a massive 1370 (strong), so there’s plenty of power. This is going to be a hefty, powerful wave. At over 8ft, it’s only for experienced surfers, and the long period suggests it might be a bit too straight for the beach, but on a point like Rainbow Bay, it’ll be a ripper if you can handle the size. It’s the biggest and best-looking swell of the entire 16-day window, and the offshore wind should keep it glassy. The Tuesday before that (1 September) also has some size, but it comes with a “marginal” tag, so the Wednesday is the one to aim for.

So, to sum it up: a small, clean window on Wednesday, 19 August for the frothers, a long flat spell, and then a big, powerful, expert-only swell on Wednesday, 2 September.

Stay stoked,
Rusty

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