Raneika Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Monday, August 31st: We’re kicking off with only ankle to waist-high lines in the 0.8m range, but the wind is fresh offshore, WNW at 30 km/h, which makes for a clean, glassy surface. The energy is moderate at 533, but it’s just not doing much. Conditions are better than the surf.

Tuesday, September 1st: This is where it starts to get a bit more interesting. The swell builds through the day. The morning sees 3.5m of SSW swell with a 12-second period, and moderate cross-offshore winds. The energy is starting to climb to 5312, which is strong. The afternoon is a bit smaller, down to 3.0m but cleaner, with a light breeze. This is getting more serious, but the size might be challenging for some.

Wednesday, September 2nd: This is the pick of the first week if you ask me. The morning has 2.2m of S swell with a 13-second period and a gentle offshore wind. It’s clean. But the afternoon is the one to watch: 2.3m of S swell, but the period jumps to 17 seconds, making it a proper, long-period groundswell with a light offshore breeze. The energy is pumping at 4666. This is powerful, clean surf. It’s a bit big for beginners, but for anyone with some experience, this is going to be excellent.

Thursday, September 3rd: The swell starts to fade. The morning has a fun-looking 1.3m, but the wind swings cross-offshore and it loses its spark. The afternoon drops right off in size and the conditions get worse. Not great.

Friday, September 4th through Monday, September 7th: This is the flat, messy stretch. The swell drops to nothing, and what little waves there are get chopped up. We’ve got northerly winds and short-period windswell, which is just junk. It’s not worth paddling out for. A blank run like this is a bit of a bummer, but it happens around here.

Tuesday, September 8th: There’s a small window in the morning with 1.6m of SSW swell and a clean, light offshore wind, but the afternoon turns to garbage with a cross-onshore breeze. It’s a tease.

Wednesday, September 9th through Friday, September 11th: Back to small, weak, and unremarkable conditions. A few clean scraps but nothing with any push or shape. The highlight is a strong offshore wind at 45 km/h on the 10th, but that just blows out the tiny 0.4m waves. Not worth the paddle.

Saturday, September 12th: Alright, here’s the second pulse. The morning looks okay, with 2.5m of S swell at 8 seconds, which is a short-period swell, and light winds, making it very clean and surfable. But then the wind swings around to a fresh cross-shore in the afternoon, and the size jumps to 3.5m, making it a lumpy, cross-chop mess. This could be more interesting for the kite surfing crew than for us paddle surfers.

Sunday, September 13th: The swell is still up there, with 2.5m of S swell in the morning, but the conditions are compromised with moderate cross-shore winds. The afternoon brings a cross-onshore breeze, chopping everything up. It’s powerful, but it’s going to be a battle out there.

Monday, September 14th and Tuesday, September 15th: The swell fades out, and we’re back to small leftovers and cross-shore winds. There’s not much to get excited about as we head into the second week. The long-range stuff looks promising but less certain, and I’m not seeing another standout on the horizon just yet.

Keep an eye on Wednesday the 2nd, and maybe Saturday the 12th if you can get out early. Until next time, this is Rusty, signing off.

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