Tairua Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here again, same story just in feet and Fahrenheit.

The short story is: we’re in for a long, flat spell. For the first five days, from Saturday 22 August right through to Wednesday 27 August, there’s just nothing doing. Tiny dribbles of swell, mostly under 1 ft, with short periods and weak wave energy (values between 7 and 23). The wind is offshore or cross-offshore most of that time, but there’s no wave to work with. It’s a real waiting game.

Things finally start to stir on the afternoon of Thursday 27 August. We see a little pulse of 3 ft easterly swell with a period of just 5 seconds, and the combined energy climbs to 72. It’s not much, but it’s the first surfable wave we’ve seen. The wind is light and cross-offshore, so the surface will be clean. Still, this is one for the log if you’re desperate.

Friday 28 August morning brings a touch of glassy conditions with a 3 ft NE swell, but the energy is still weak (51) and the period is short. It’s a knee-high wobbler at best.

The standout of the entire forecast window comes on Sunday 30 August afternoon. We get a 5 ft pulse from the NNW, with a period of 6 seconds and combined energy jumping to 249 – that’s moderate wave energy. The wind is light offshore from the WNW, so the conditions will be clean. This is the best wave of the run, but at 5 ft it’s right on the edge of beginner territory. For the average intermediate, it’s a fun size. The swell direction is NNW, which is not the optimum NE for this bar, but the energy is there and the wind is right.

Monday 31 August keeps the momentum going with a 3 ft NE swell in the morning (energy 128) and 3 ft in the afternoon (energy 88), both with light offshore winds. Clean, small, but rideable.

After that, the surf tapers off again. Tuesday 1 September sees 2 ft NE swell with moderate offshore winds, but the energy drops to the 50s. The rest of the first week of September is mostly poor – small, weak, or onshore winds messing things up. By Thursday 3 September, the wind is howling 22–25 mph offshore, which is too strong to paddle into.

The second week is a write-off. There’s a tiny blip on Saturday 5 September morning with a 3 ft NNW swell and energy of 99, but it’s cross-offshore and low period. Not worth getting excited about.

So, the one true standout is Sunday 30 August afternoon. 5 ft, clean, light offshore wind, and the most energy of the whole period. Get on it if you can. The rest is a whole lot of small and average.

Rusty.

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