Tengan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the Tengan area. Gotta be straight with you – it’s a tough stretch ahead.

Right from the off, the whole 16-day window is a bit of a heartbreaker. The Tengan reef is just not getting the love it needs. We kick off on Friday the 14th of August with a tiny 1ft ripple from the north, and the energy reading is a weak 26. The water’s 84°F which is pretty normal for this time of year, but the wave quality is flat-out poor. That sets the tone for the entire first week. It’s a real grind. From the 14th right through to the early hours of the 23rd of August, you’re looking at nothing but tiny ankle-snappers at best, with onshore breezes messing things up from the east and southeast most days. It’s just not worth paddling out for the locals. The crowds at Tengan are sometimes an issue, but with this surf, the lineup will be empty anyway.

There is a glimmer, and it shows up right at the tail end of the period. We’re talking about Sunday the 23rd of August. Suddenly, on Sunday afternoon, the energy jumps up to 103 – that’s moderate energy on the scale, a real change from the dribble before it. We get a clean 1ft swell coming from the ESE with a very long period of 16 seconds. That’s proper groundswell energy, and the wind is clean off the land from the NW, so the place will be looking tidy. For a reef like Tengan, that long-period swell is a beautiful thing, shaping up nicely. This run of cleaner, slightly better surf carries through Monday the 24th of August as well, with similar 2ft, 13-second ESE swell and clean cross-off winds, giving us moderate energy readings in the 130s. It’s the best we’re going to get, but realistically, these are still small, very ordinary conditions.

After that brief pulse, it dribbles away again. By Tuesday the 25th, the energy drops back down under 100, and we’re back to poor to ordinary conditions for the rest of the window. The 26th and 27th have a small 2-2ft E swell with offshore winds, but the energy is on the weaker side of moderate (100 – 106). It’s surfable, but nothing to write home about, and by the 28th and 29th, we’re back to tiny, weak, and messy. The wind swings to a stronger SSW-SW, blowing cross-off but the swell is gone.

To be honest, if you’re an absolute beginner, the tiny stuff from the 23rd to 27th might be okay, but the whole period is a bust for any surfer with a bit of experience. The only true standout is that small but clean window from the 23rd to the 24th of August. Mark that Sunday afternoon and Monday morning in your head – it’s the only time the conditions line up for a proper cruise.

Rusty.

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