Napier - The Reef Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Rightio, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s comin’ through for Napier - The Reef over the next couple of weeks.

The best of the lot looks like Tuesday morning, 28 July. We get a solid 5 ft swell comin’ out of the ESE at a nice long 13 seconds – that’s proper groundswell energy, plenty of push behind it. The wind is a gentle 9 mph from the WSW, blowin’ offshore and keepin’ the surface glassy clean. This is the standout session on offer. Now, this wave here, it’s a reef setup, and with that longer period it’s goin’ to peel nicely, not too fat. It’s rated as beginner-friendly, which is a bit of a treat. Combined swell energy is moderate at 745. Water temp is about average for this time of year.

After that, the surf starts to fade. Wednesday morning, 29 July is still worth a paddle with 4 ft from the ESE, period at 13 seconds, and light 3 mph cross-offshore winds that leave it clean (energy: 514). By the afternoon the wind swings onshore and things get a bit ordinary.

Thursday morning, 30 July has 3 ft from the east at 12 seconds, with light cross-offshore wind (energy: 288). It’s clean, but the energy’s droppin’ off. From Friday 31 July all the way through to Tuesday 4 August, it’s a flat spell. The swell drops below 3 ft, and the combined energy fades into weak territory – midweek we’re seein’ numbers down around 10 or less. A few clean, small waves appear on Sunday 2 August with 3 ft from the SE, but the period is short at 8 seconds and the energy is weak at 122 – not worth gettin’ excited about.

Monday 3 August afternoon sees a bit of life return: 3 ft from the SE at 12 seconds, with light cross-offshore winds and clean conditions (energy: 207). It’s surfable but far from the earlier days.

From Tuesday 4 August to Thursday 6 August, it’s flat or near flat again – energy is zero or near zero. Same goes for Friday 8 August and Sunday 9 August – more gaps of flat calm.

A flicker of hope shows up on Monday 10 August morning: 3 ft from the SE, 11 seconds, light offshore wind, clean, with energy at 140. And then on Wednesday 12 August morning we get a bit of new swell: 4 ft from the ENE, but only 6 second period – that’s windswell, a bit weak and crumbly, but with clean conditions and energy at 201. It’s somethin’, but not a standout.

Bottom line: jump on that Tuesday 28 July morning. That’s your session. Everything else is either small, inconsistent, or flat. Expect several days of no real surf in between. The combo of long period groundswell and offshore wind on that first morning makes it the one to chase.

Rusty.

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