Tawharanui Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, it’s a quiet stretch for Tawharanui. Starting Monday, August 24th, the surf is flat as a pancake. A tiny 0.3ft NE swell with an 11-second period, but the energy is weak (10) – you’ve got a clear morning with a light offshore breeze, but there’s nothing to ride. That’s the story through the week: small, weak swell, and even with clean offshore winds, the wave heights barely touch 0.7ft. The water temp is 57°F, about 0.7°F cooler than average for this time of year – not a big deal, just a little chilly.

By Friday, August 28th, the swell bumps up to 3ft to 4ft from the N, but the period drops to a short 5 seconds. That’s windswell, not groundswell, and it’s coming with a stiff 19 mph cross-onshore N wind. The energy climbs to 47 and 69, but it’s lumpy and messy. Not worth paddling out for.

The weekend of the 29th and 30th gets a little better: Saturday morning has 3ft from the N with a 6-second period, energy at 84, and a light cross-offshore WSW wind at 9 mph. The waves are “surfable” but very ordinary. Winds turn more offshore in the afternoon, but it’s still a marginal day. Sunday sees a cleaner offshore breeze, but the swell drops back to 2ft.

Into the first week of September, the trend holds. There’s a tiny spike on Tuesday, September 1st afternoon, with 3ft from the ENE at 6 seconds and energy hitting 103 – that’s moderate energy, but it’s short-period and the winds are moderate offshore. Still, it’s the best you’ll see. After that, it’s back to 0.7ft to 1ft dross for the next week.

The standout? Honestly, there’s no real standout. Wednesday, September 2nd and Thursday, September 3rd have clean offshore winds but the swell is too small. The most promising day is probably Tuesday, September 1st afternoon with that 3ft ENE swell and moderate offshore winds, but don’t expect anything epic. For a break like Tawharanui (beach and reef), it’s inconsistent and rarely breaks with this kind of weak energy. The long gaps – days at a time with nothing – are a real downer.

If you’re a kite surfer, the breezy afternoons with side-offshore winds and small chop might be more interesting than waiting for a wave. But for a paddle surfer, this is a tough 16-day outlook. The near-term calls are reliable – it’s just flat. Long-range, there’s nothing promising. It tends not to stay this poor for long around here, so forecasts can change, but for now, I’d leave the boards at home.

Rusty.

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