Sakawa River Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll level with ya – the next couple of weeks are looking pretty flat and ordinary for the Sakawa River. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak, messy surf ahead, so don’t get your hopes up for anything juicy. The first real sniff of something with a bit of size doesn't show up until late in the run, and even then, the conditions aren’t doing us any favours.

For the start, from Tuesday the 11th right through until basically the end of the third week of August, it’s a slow grind. The swell is tiny – mostly around 1ft to 2ft – with combined energy readings struggling to get above 200 (low moderate at best, often under 100, which is weak). The wind is a real pain: mostly cross, cross-on, or cross-off breezes, and the odd glassy moment pops up on a few morning windows, but the waves themselves are just too small and weak to get excited about. We get a few clean-looking mornings, like Wednesday the 12th, Thursday the 13th, and Saturday the 22nd, but the swell is barely a ripple. The water temp is a warm 82°F, about average for this time of year, so at least you won’t freeze while you’re waiting.

Around Tuesday the 25th, we finally see a pulse of better swell – a longer-period groundswell from the south with a 4ft to 5ft face and period up to 16 seconds. The combined energy jumps into the strong range (577 to 788). That’s the standout window, but here’s the kicker: the wind is a moderate to fresh cross-shore from the southwest, kicking up a cross-chop. It’s clean-ish, but not glassy, and that long-period south swell can be a bit tricky on a river mouth – tends to shut down or break too straight. This is really only for the experienced crew; 5ft might be a bit much for beginners, especially with that chop. The Sakawa River is fairly consistent but exposed to the east, and the optimum swell for it is from the southeast, but we’re getting it from the south. It’s the best we’ve got, but it’s not a home run.

Crowds are “sometimes” a thing here, so you might bump into a few others if you do paddle out on the 26th. Otherwise, it’s a long wait. Honestly, for most of this 16-day outlook, the conditions are so poor and the swell so weak, you’d be better off keeping the board in the car and checking back in a week.

Rusty.

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