Shichirigahama Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's get straight into the local outlook for Shichigahama (Shichirigahama). It's a bit of a mixed bag over the next couple of weeks, with a long wait for the real action.

The water temp is sitting at 82°, which is a solid 1° above the norm for this time of year, so pretty average and honestly, lovely for a session.

Right now, and for the next week and a half, we're in a bit of a dry spell. The surf is small and pretty poor. From Sunday 16th August right through to the morning of Monday 25th, there's nothing really worth paddling out for. The swell's tiny, mostly under 2 ft, and the energy is weak (between 13 and 115 units). The wind is often cross-off or onshore, and the wave comment is consistently "poor surf conditions". It's a long stretch of flatness, so don't get your hopes up for the first week.

Things start to look a bit more promising from Tuesday 25th August afternoon. The swell picks up to 3 ft from the SSE, with a very long period of 15 seconds, and the energy bumps up to a moderate 447 units. It's still onshore wind though, so the quality is questionable.

The standout window, and the one to really circle on your calendar, is the morning of Wednesday 26th August. We've got a clean 3 ft SSE groundswell with a very long 16-second period, and the wind is glassy—just a slight air. The wave energy is strong (728 units) and the forecast says "expect very good surf conditions". This is going to be a clean, fun morning on the banks. The water temp is still a touch above average, so it'll be a treat.

From Thursday 27th August through to the end of the month, the swell gets much bigger, but it's not all good news. The morning of Thursday 27th sees 6 ft from the SSE with a 16-second period, with a cross-shore wind. The energy is very strong (1462 units), but there's a risk of thunderstorms and the forecast is marginal. By Friday 28th, we're looking at 7 ft to 7 ft from the S, which is getting up there for the intermediate crowd, and the cross-shore wind and chop will make it a bit of a battle.

The real big stuff rolls in on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th August. The swell is 8 ft to 10 ft from the SSE/S, with energy readings from 2251 to 5215 units—that's very strong energy. The wind is cross-shore or cross-off, so it's not totally blown out, but the raw power is serious. This is expert territory due to the size.

And then, on Monday 31st August, the swell maxes out at a massive 21 ft from the SSE, with a 16-second period and a staggering 19071 units of energy. The wind is offshore from the NE, so it's clean, but the forecast itself says "the swell is predicted to be too big for this break." This is a full-on, big-wave day for absolute experts only, and even then, Shichirigahama might not handle it. The afternoon is a similar story with 18 ft swell.

So, to sum it up: the best bet in the whole 16-day window is the morning of Wednesday 26th August. That's the one with clean, glassy conditions and a nice, manageable 3 ft SSE groundswell. After that, it gets big, and then it gets huge. Keep your eyes on that Wednesday morning.

Rusty.

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