Salamumu Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real about Salamumu for a moment. This is a mean right-hand reef break that works best with a proper south-east groundswell, and for the advanced crew only. I hate to say it, but this 16-day window is a write-off. We’re looking at a blank run of over two weeks with no decent surf on offer.

The whole stretch is plagued by persistent cross-onshore winds from the south-east, often strong enough to make things a real mess. The water temp is sitting at 81°, which is pretty average for this time of year. For the first week, the swell is on the small side or just too big and ugly. The combined swell energy is moderate to strong, like 1212 to 2172, but with all that wind, it's just a lumpy, choppy mess. The period is all over the shop, from short 9-second wind swell to some longer 16-second groundswell, but it doesn’t matter because the wind just shreds it.

Right in the middle, around the 10th of August, the swell really kicks up to 7 ft from the south with a long 16-second period, giving combined energy up to 3460 – that’s strong energy. But the wind is howling at 25 mph onshore. That’s not surfable, that’s just dangerous and blown out. It might be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The second week doesn’t get any better. The wind stays up, the swell drops off, and there’s a lot of “risk tstorm” in the forecast. The energy drops to moderate and even weak levels, like 408 to 632, with short periods around 8 seconds. Honestly, it’s grim. There is a tiny flicker of hope on the 15th of August morning, where we get a clean cross-offshore breeze and 5 ft swell from the south-east, but the rating is only a 1, calling it marginal. It’s not worth the paddle. Stay home and wait for the next proper south-east pulse.

This is a tough stretch for Salamumu. It’s a world-class wave when it’s on, but when it’s off, it’s off completely. Keep an eye on the charts – it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

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