Sakawa River Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me give you the lowdown on what’s brewing around here for the next couple of weeks. Straight up, it’s slow going, with the Sakawa River being the only spot in the mix. It’s a river mouth setup, exposed to the southeast, so it’s got a different feel to an open beach.

We’re coming out of a flat spell right now. For the last few days of August—Saturday the 29th through Monday the 31st—the swell is tiny, just 0.2 feet to 0.4 feet, coming out of the SE or ESE. The periods bounce around, starting at 11 seconds on Saturday, dropping to 10 seconds on Sunday, then a long 14-second groundswell creeps in on Monday morning. Monday morning is glassy, which is a tease, but the combined wave energy is a weak 45. It’s just not enough to get you moving. The conditions are poor, the energy is low, and it’s a no-go.

Then on Tuesday the 1st of September, we get a little glimmer. That morning, the wind goes glassy out of the SSE at 3 mph, the swell kicks up to 0.5 feet from the east with a solid 12-second period. The combined energy hits a moderate 144. It’s still small, but it’s the first time in the outlook where the surface is clean and you might steal a little glide. After that, the wind swings onshore and the quality goes right back to poor for the rest of the day and through the next week.

We’re looking at a real dry stretch for quality through the end of the first week of September. On Saturday the 5th, you’ll see a bump—up to 1 feet from the ESE on the afternoon, with the energy climbing to 239, which is moderate. But even with clean cross-off wind from the north at 9 mph, the waves are only “surfable but very ordinary.” The river mouth just isn’t shaping up well.

Your one real standout in this whole 16-day window is way out there—Wednesday the 9th of September, in the afternoon. That’s a week and a half off, so take it as a promising call but not set in stone. The swell will be 1 feet out of the ESE, with an 11-second period, pushing a combined wave energy of 333—that’s moderate but with some push. The wind will be cross-off from the WSW at just 6 mph, leaving it clean. It’s the only session in the entire window that gets a solid “good surf conditions” tag. That’s your session. It’s a river, so that longer period swell will wrap in off the banks, giving you some fun walls. Crowds can show up here sometimes, so get there early if this one holds.

Before that, it’s a whole lot of nothing from the 2nd of September through the morning of the 9th. The waves that show are mostly 0.6 feet to 0.7 feet with messy winds. Not worth paddling out.

After that Wednesday the 9th window, the swell holds into Thursday the 10th, but the wind cranks up to 28 mph from the southwest, and the wave energy jumps to 496—strong stuff, but the river mouth will be a mess. Unless you want to get thrashed, pass on that. Friday the 11th looks cleaner with cross-off northeast wind at 9 mph, a 1-foot swell, and a 13-second period, but the energy is still high at 493, and the conditions are only marginal. Might appeal to the experienced crew if the banks are working, but it’s not the standout.

Water temperature? No anomaly given, so it’s about average for this time of year at the Sakawa River. Nothing wild.

So here’s the take: the next week and a half is mostly quiet. Your best bet is the afternoon of Wednesday the 9th of September. That’s the one to circle. The river break with that southeast groundswell and clean offshores could serve up some real fun waves.

- Rusty

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