Taapuna Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Looks like we’ve got a bit of a wait on our hands before anything worth paddling out for shows up at Taapuna. The next week and a half is a write-off thanks to a relentless run of strong cross and cross-onshore winds that’ll have the surface chopped up and messy. The swell is there, sure, but the quality is just not there.

Things finally start to look up on the morning of Tuesday the 18th of August. We get a proper offshore breeze out of the ENE at 16 mph, which will clean up the lineup nicely. The swell hangs around 3 ft from the SSW, and the period is a very long 18 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy, and on a reef like Taapuna it should wrap in and offer up some nice, powerful lines. Combined energy is moderate at 897. The afternoon cleans up even more with a NE offshore at 12 mph and a 4 ft SSW swell at 16 seconds (858 combined energy). This is the standout window. Expect clean, well-shaped waves, though the sets will be spaced out with that long period.

Now, if you’re an expert and the conditions hold, keep an eye on Thursday the 20th of August. We’ve got a serious pulse of swell hitting – 10 ft from the SSW, period around 11-13 seconds. That’s big, over 8 ft, so experts only. The wind is cross-shore though, so not as clean. The combined energy jumps up to 3609 on the afternoon – that’s strong wave energy. It’s a powerful, heavy swell that could be a handful even for the experienced.

The week after that, from the 22nd onward, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster. More big swell but also strong, messy wind making things lumpy. The 23rd shows some clean-up in the afternoon with a cross-off wind and 10 ft SSW swell (4641 combined energy), but the sea state will still be pretty chunky.

Overall, hold out for the 18th for the best chance of a clean, quality session. The 20th is one for the big-wave crew only, and even then, it’s not a sure thing with the cross-breeze.

Rusty.

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