Sakawa River Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for the local stretch.

Right off the bat, we’ve got a bit of a tease. The best window is narrow – it’s all on Monday morning the 24th of August, and after that, things get quiet for a long stretch. We’re talking over a week of mostly small, junky surf until we see a late pulse toward the end of the first week of September.

The standout is the Monday morning session at Sakawa River. The water temp is sitting at 27°, which is bang on average for the time of year. The swell is coming from the SSE at 4 ft, with a long period of 14 seconds – that’s proper groundswell. The combined wave energy is solid at 787 (moderate energy), and the wind? Dead glassy from the SSE at just 3 mph. That’s about as clean as it gets. Those long-period waves will be lining up nicely at this river mouth setup, but keep in mind that long-period swell can make beach breaks a bit straight – here at the river, it should shape up well. The crowd factor is “sometimes”, so expect a few other keen locals, but nothing too hectic.

By Monday afternoon, the wind swings SSW at 9 mph and goes cross-onshore, dirtying things up. The swell bumps a little to 5 ft with an even longer 16-second period and the energy jumps to 1344, but the quality drops. It’s not worth hanging around for.

Tuesday the 25th sees the swell holding around 6 ft from the S, with a 13-second period, but the wind is cross-shore from the SW at 6 mph and the conditions are just marginal. Afternoon picks up a cross-off breeze from the WSW at 12 mph, which cleans it up, but the swell size has already dropped to 4 ft. It’s a pass.

From Wednesday the 26th onward, it’s a slow fade. Swell drops below 3 ft, periods shorten, and the wind is a mixed bag of cross and cross-off. The combined energy drops below 500, and by Thursday the 27th we’re seeing thunderstorms and tiny 2 ft swell with a period of just 6 seconds – that’s pure wind chop.

The next real flicker of hope doesn’t come until Wednesday the 2nd of September. By the afternoon, we get glassy conditions with a 3 ft swell from the SSW, period of 14 seconds, and combined energy of 477. It’s small, but with perfect conditions, it might give a few fun corners. That’s still a week and a half away though, so call it a promising maybe.

After that, the following mornings and afternoons are all small, messy, and not worth paddling out for. Winds stay onshore or cross-shore, swell stays below 3 ft, and the energy readings are mostly in the double-digit or low triple-digit range.

So, here’s the call: For the whole 16-day window, Monday morning 24th August at Sakawa River is your one true standout. Glassy, 4 ft of long-period SSE groundswell, and clean conditions. Don’t sleep on it, because after that, it’s a whole lot of waiting and hoping for that late tiny pulse on September 2nd.

Stay sharp,
Rusty.

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