Tawharanui Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board, but maybe leave it in the car for a bit. This is shaping up to be a real test of patience. We’ve got a long stretch of flat, weak, and messy conditions on the horizon, with just a couple of fleeting moments that might get the heart rate up.

Right off the bat, the surf is basically non-existent. Tuesday the 15th and Wednesday the 16th are looking at tiny, weak scraps with an average period swell. It’s clean, but there’s just nothing to ride. You’re looking at ankle-biters at best. This quiet spell is going to drag on for a good week or so, so don’t hold your breath.

Thursday the 17th sees a bit of a pulse, but it’s a junky one. The swell bumps up to 3ft in the morning, but the period is a short and crumbly 5 seconds, and we’ve got a moderate cross-shore wind chopping it up. By the afternoon, the wind swings onshore and strengthens to 22 mph, pushing the waves to 5ft, but it’s going to be a lumpy, blown-out mess. The overall energy is weak, only registering 183 units, and it’s not going to be worth the paddle out.

The winds go offshore again on Friday the 18th, and it’s clean, but the swell has dropped back to that pathetic 2ft. By the afternoon, the breeze builds to a strong 28 mph offshore, which will make it glassy but nearly impossible to paddle into. The energy is weak, at just 31 units. It’s a tease.

From the 19th through to the 24th, we are in the doldrums. The swell drops to near nothing, with heights floating between 0.3ft and 0.7ft. There’s plenty of offshore wind, but it’s blowing at 16 to 28 mph, creating clean but completely unsurfable conditions. The energy readings are pitiful, mostly single digits. This is a solid stretch of nothing.

The 25th gives us a little respite from the wind. The morning has a light breeze and the afternoon goes glassy with the wind going variable. But it’s still only 0.3ft to 0.7ft of swell. There’s just no power behind it.

The 26th is looking average, with light onshore breezes and minimal swell, and the 27th brings back a gentle offshore flow. Still, at 0.7ft, it’s not going to break.

Now, don't get too excited, but there’s a tiny glimmer late in the window. On Monday the 28th, the morning is still small and clean, but by that afternoon, we see a pulse of 3ft swell from the ESE with a 9-second period. The energy reading jumps up to a moderate 129 units, which is the most we’ve seen in a while. The wind is a light cross-shore, so it won't be perfect, but there could be a sneaky little wave at Tawharanui. This is over a week away, so don’t book the day off work just yet, but it’s the only thing on the charts that looks remotely ridable.

After that, it’s back to small leftovers through the 29th and 30th. The water’s sitting about average for this time of year, so a good 4/3 and a hood will do for the early sessions.

This is one of those classic blank runs. Tawharanui is a fairly consistent spot, so it tends not to stay this poor for long. Forecasts can and will change. We just gotta wait it out.

Rusty.

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