Sakawa River Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, checking in on the Sakawa River.

The forecast fires up on Monday the 3rd of August, so no dead time at the start. There’s a big pulse of swell early on, but you’ve got to sift through the conditions. The one to circle is Wednesday morning, the 5th of August. That’s the pick. Swell is a thumping 12ft from the SE, with a very long period of 16 seconds, giving it heavy groundswell energy – the combined energy is a massive 5796 (very strong). The wind is cross-offshore from the NNE, so the waves will be clean. That’s big, powerful stuff, and for the Sakawa River, it’s expert-only territory. It’s a river break, so it can handle that long period, but beginners need to stay clear. The water is a touch warmer than usual at 82°.

Tuesday the 4th of August morning has a solid 8ft swell from the SE, 17-second period, 3783 combined energy, and cross-off wind, but it’s flagged for questionable tide conditions. The afternoon is a mess with onshore wind and 10ft, so skip it. Wednesday afternoon the 5th still has size at 12ft, but the wind turns cross, and the direction shifts to SSE, making it less clean.

By Thursday the 6th of August, the swell drops to 10ft, but the wind is onshore or cross, and the period drops to 14-15 seconds. The combined energy is still strong, but the quality is poor. From Friday the 7th through to the 10th, the swell steadily drops from 8ft down to 3ft, with mostly cross or cross-off winds, but the scores are very low. The surf is just marginal or poor. The 10th of August has a 4ft swell from the ESE with 15 mph cross-off wind, but it’s rated poor.

There’s a dry spell of several days from around the 11th to the 14th, with swell dropping below 3ft. The 12th of August has a tiny 3ft swell with glassy conditions in the morning, and the 12th afternoon is glassy with 3ft, but it’s barely surfable. The 14th of August afternoon has 2ft glassy conditions, but it’s only ordinary.

Then on the 15th of August Saturday afternoon, there’s a sudden spike to 7ft from the ESE with 11-second period, but the wind is cross-onshore and choppy, and the score is zero. Sunday the 16th of August morning has 10ft from the SE with 11 seconds and cross wind, but it’s marginal. The period is short, so it’s not as good as that Wednesday groundswell.

Bottom line: for the experts, lock in Wednesday the 5th of August morning. That’s the one. After that, it’s a long wait with a lot of small, messy, or poor surf. The late spike on the 16th is too rough to bother with.

Rusty.

Read more