Salamumu Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, grab a coffee and listen up. Rusty here.

The next 16 days are a bit of a mixed bag for Salamumu. After some messy, blown-out conditions to start, we get a few tidy windows, a couple of absolute gems mid-period, and then another bumpy end to the run. The big standout is truly special.

Water temps are sitting right around 82° right now, which is bang on average for the time of year, so no surprises there.

Let’s kick it off. We’ve got a bit of a wait, because the first few days are a write-off. Tuesday the 15th through the early hours of Wednesday the 16th are a write-off. Strong ESE winds have the place chopped up and ugly, with poor surf and a combined wave energy that’s still moderate to strong (1971).

Wednesday the 16th starts looking up. It’s a risk of thunderstorms, but the wind swings ENE and drops, going cross-offshore. The morning swell is a clean 5ft from the SW (combined energy 1604) and by the afternoon it’s even better – a gentle breeze, clean lines, and 5ft of SW swell (1310). This is excellent for experienced surfers.

Thursday the 17th is a real treat. Early morning, we’ve got a nice 5ft southerly swell (1635) with a clean, moderate offshore breeze from the north. It’s clean, has some push, and feels proper. The afternoon goes glassy-light with a 5ft southerly (1441) and gentle offshore flow. This is the kind of day you book off work for.

Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th are smaller, cleaner options but definitely more mellow. Friday morning has 5ft S swell (930), then it fades to 4ft by Saturday morning (470). Still clean, still fun, but not the headline act.

Now, Sunday the 20th is a bit of a flat spot but then things get serious. Monday the 21st is the true standout. We’ve got a solid 6ft SW groundswell (1771) rolling in with a very long period of 16 seconds. The wind? Early morning is a light offshore from the NNW, and the afternoon goes completely glassy and clean with no wind at all. That’s magic. The long period will give it heaps of energy and shape, and the reef at Salamumu loves that sort of angle.

Tuesday the 22nd is a hard no. Strong ESE cross-shore winds hit 25 mph, turning a 5ft SW swell (1624) into a messy, lumpy disaster. That stretch of rough cross-shore wind lasts right through until Saturday the 27th, with the swell fluctuating between 4ft and 6ft, but the wind is just too strong for any quality.

We finally get another chance late on Saturday the 26th and into Sunday the 27th as the wind backs off to a clean, cross-offshore ENE breeze. Swell sits around 4ft to 5ft (1284 to 1302). It’s a solid, clean option for a surf, but it’s not the size of the Monday session.

Looking further out, into the final days of the month: Monday 28th September sees a shift in swell direction to the S/SSE with moderate energy (1082 to 1172), and the wind stays in a clean cross-off slot. Swell sizes are getting up there – 7ft to 7ft. That’s getting into the powerful zone.

Then, Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th offer another genuine highlight. Swell holds at 7ft to 7ft from the SSE (1020 to 1249) with nice light offshore winds. The wave period is a punchy 9 to 10 seconds, which will produce well-shaped, clean lines for experienced surfers. This is the second-best run of the entire outlook, but Monday the 21st is still the one that gets the heart pumping.

So, if you can only paddle out once, make it Monday 21st September for that glassy, long-period SW groundswell. If you miss it, the end of the month has plenty of solid, clean size for the more experienced crew.

Keep an eye on the wind, lads. It changes everything.

Rusty.

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