Stent Road Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, this is Rusty.

We’re staring down a classic slow start. The first few days are a total loss. The wind is screaming out of the SSE, absolutely shredding what could have been some solid swell. Wednesday and Thursday this week are a hard pass. You'd be fighting a gale for absolutely nothing. We gotta wait until the weekend just to think about a paddle out.

Let's get into the goods. The first real chance shows up Friday, 10 July. Even then, it's marginal. The wind backs off a little, but it's still cross-off, keeping the surface a bit lumpy. But we've got a solid WSW groundswell starting to show with a long period of 17 seconds. The waves are around 6ft to 7ft, and the energy is real—combined swell energy is a muscular 3079 (moderate to strong). This is a deep-water pulse. For Stent Road, being a reef and point, that long period makes the waves shape up nice and powerful, but you'll need to watch the tide. The water is sitting at 59°F, which is normal for this time of year, so a good 4/3mm wetsuit is fine.

But the real standout window is Saturday and Sunday (11-12 July). This is clean, clean, clean. Light winds from the ESE turning NE, glassy mornings. The swell is still a good 5ft to 6ft with that same beautiful 15 to 17 second period from the WSW. The combined energy is still pumping (1327-1718). This is where you want to be. The consistency is there, and with that period, the sets stack up fat and lined. Saturday morning (Big Island) is my pick of the week. The water is glassy, the swell is potent—this is what we wait for. It might be a little much for beginners at that size with that much power, but for experienced surfers, it's game on. Just know the crowds can be *often* at a spot this good on a weekend.

The week after that gets patchy. We get another little pulse of clean conditions Wednesday and Thursday the 15th and 16th with some heavy 10ft to 12ft swell, but that is big and heavy. With that much WNW groundswell energy (4640-5125 in combined energy), this is expert territory only at Stent Road. The wind is glass or light offshore, so the faces will be beautiful, but that size on a reef and point is no joke.

We fade out after that. A few small windows of wind-swell around the 20th and 21st—nothing special for size, but you might find a knee-high ripple on the 21st with glassy conditions.

Further out, there's a couple of interesting pulses. Tuesday 21 July we get a glassy afternoon with a fresh 10ft SSE short-period swell (8 seconds). That’s a beach-break wedge kind of wave; won’t have the same grunt as the groundswell. Then Wednesday 22 July looks promising with the offshore wind and an 12ft southerly swell. That’s a long-range call, so keep an eye on it, but it could be worth a look if you’re an expert.

Overall, if you can get out this weekend, that's the golden ticket. Don't even bother with Thursday and Friday this week unless you like getting sandblasted. The big stuff next week is for the brave.

Rusty.

Read more