Tawharanui Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s have a look at what’s coming up for Tawharanui. To be honest, this stretch looks pretty flat and unexciting for a while. We’ve got a long dry spell here, so don’t get your hopes up early.

The first bit of anything worth paddling out for doesn’t show until Monday morning the 7th of September, and even then it’s not great. That morning brings a 7 ft north swell, but it’s a short-period windswell at 7 seconds, and the wind is a cross-shore from the NW at 12 mph. The combined energy is moderate (390), but the report says poor surf conditions, and I’m not stoked on it either – it’ll be choppy. Monday afternoon drops to 5 ft from the NNW, with a cleaner cross-off breeze, but still nothing to write home about.

Tuesday the 8th sees a small drop: 3 ft on the north swell in the morning, with clean offshore SW winds at 12 mph. It’s surfable but ordinary. The combined energy is weak (92). That afternoon the swell fades further to 2 ft and the wind picks up to 19 mph – fresh offshore, but the energy is tiny (51).

From Wednesday the 9th right through to the morning of Saturday the 19th of September, it’s a flat spell. Swell heights hover around 0.3 ft to 1.0 ft, with combined energy readings mostly below 50. That’s basically a lake. You’ll see a lot of offshore winds, but without any swell, it doesn’t matter. This gap lasts about 11 days with no surf.

Now, the one bright spot in this whole forecast is Sunday the 20th of September. Sunday morning looks promising. We’ve got a 8 ft NNE swell, period 8 seconds, and moderate offshore WSW winds at 16 mph. The combined energy jumps up to 576 (strong). That’s the standout window. The report says expect very good surf conditions. That’s the morning session to aim for. The afternoon on the 20th holds similar 8 ft swell but the wind goes cross-off, and the energy stays high (655), though the score drops a notch.

Sunday’s surf is solid but the 8 ft size is getting into expert territory – not for beginners. The swell direction (NNE) is close to optimum for Tawharanui (NE), so the break should handle it well. Expect crowds to be likely here – this spot can get busy.

After that, Monday the 21st brings 5 ft to 6 ft NNE swells with fresh cross-off winds, but the quality is called poor, and Tuesday the 22nd drops to 4 ft with strong offshore winds that make paddling tough.

Water temperature is unremarkable right now – about average for the time of year, so no surprise there.

Honestly, if you can wait, Sunday the 20th is the only day that’s got proper energy and clean conditions. The rest is a long flat spell.

Rusty.

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