Te Awanga Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, listen up. Rusty here, looking straight at the charts for Te Awanga. We’ve got a bit of a slow start, but there’s a real gem hiding in this 16-day window, plus a huge pulse that’s going to be for the brave only.

The immediate run is flat and sloppy. There’s nothing worth paddling out for today or tomorrow, with the wind and swell just not lining up. The first real glimmer of hope shows up on Friday the 7th of August.

Friday the 7th is where it starts. Te Awanga is a point break, and early morning sees a 5ft S swell rolling in with a long 16-second period. That’s proper groundswell. The wind is a light 6 mph cross-offshore from the West. The water is a bit colder than usual at 53°F and the combined energy is pumping at 1803. This will be clean and have some nice shape, but it’s solid enough that it’s one for experienced surfers only. That early session is the standout of the week.

Saturday morning the 8th is also clean with that 6 mph WNW breeze, but the swell drops to 6ft from the S with a shorter 12-second period. Still good, but the wave energy (1174) is a step down from Friday. If you missed Friday, this is your backup.

Then we hit a rough patch. From Sunday the 9th through to Thursday the 13th, the wind turns onshore or the swell drops right off. We get some nasty northerly winds and small, weak swell. The combined energy drops into the low hundreds, with Tuesday the 11th morning being a brief clean window but on a 5ft S swell with a short 9-second period. It’s not great.

The Big Show: Sunday the 16th of August
Now, this is the real standout, but it comes with a massive warning. Sunday morning the 16th of August, we’ve got a 10ft S swell with a 9-second period and a clean 12 mph cross-offshore breeze from the WNW. The combined energy is a massive 1875. This is a huge, powerful swell.

The same pattern continues into Monday the 17th of August with an 8ft S swell early on, also clean, with a combined energy of 1195. This is excellent for experienced surfers.

But for both days, the size is over 8ft, and for a point break like Te Awanga, that’s a serious beast. The waves will be powerful and the paddle out is a mission. This is strictly for the experts only.

After that big pulse, things mellow out. We get another clean shot on Tuesday the 18th of August with a 6ft S swell and a solid 15 mph offshore wind from the SW. That offshore wind will hold the faces up, but the period is only 8 seconds, so it’s a bit more localized and less powerful than the long-period stuff.

The far end of the outlook, around Friday the 21st of August, looks promising again. Another 8ft S swell with an 11-second period and a gentle 9 mph offshore breeze. Again, that’s expert territory on the size, but the conditions could be world-class if it holds.

So to sum up: the best bet for the average surfer is this Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of August. For the hardcore crew, get on it Sunday the 16th and Monday the 17th of August – that’s the big one, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. The wind is likely to be howling at 28 mph on the Monday afternoon, so stick to the mornings.

Stay safe out there.

- Rusty

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