Waihee Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – this 16-day window for Waihee is a rough one. We’re looking at a long stretch of cross-onshore winds and choppy conditions that just won’t let up. The first solid recommendation doesn’t even pop up until Tuesday morning the 28th, and even then it’s marginal at best. There’s a big gap of days with very poor surf before that, and honestly, after that Tuesday, it’s a lot of the same story.

The best shot we’ve got in this whole period is probably Tuesday morning, July 28th. The swell is pushing 8ft of east-northeast groundswell, with a 12-second period. That’s got some serious grunt behind it, with combined energy hitting 1957 – that’s strong wave energy. The wind is blowing offshore from the north-northeast at 12 mph, which is a major positive. It’ll be clean. However, at 8ft, this is getting into expert-only territory; it’s not for the faint of heart. The swell direction is from the east-northeast, and Waihee (a reef and point) loves an optimum swell from the north-northeast. So it’s a touch off-angle, but a long-period groundswell like this with 15-second periods in the early part of the run will wrap nicely. The water temp is sitting around 80°F, which is about average for this time of year.

Tuesday afternoon (July 28th) sees the swell jump to 8ft from the east-northeast, with even more energy (2126), but that’s only for experts. The wind stays offshore, but the quality is still flagged as poor.

The rest of the run is a sea of cross-onshore winds and choppy, lumpy conditions. The swells are mostly short-period junk under 8 seconds, with high energy only when the wind is up. The combined energy values are mostly moderate, but the wind is always a problem. From Wednesday the 29th onwards, it’s a steady diet of east-northeast winds, 12-18 mph, and cross-onshore all the way. The swell heights bounce around 4ft to 6ft, but it’s messy. Even the long-period 14-second swell on Monday afternoon, August 3rd, is ruined by the cross-onshore breeze.

For a few days in the second week, like August 3rd and 4th, the swell is manageable but the wind never lets up. There’s a brief moment on the 4th with a 5ft, 11-second swell from the east-northeast, but it’s still cross-onshore. Overall, this is a tough call. The setup is much more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, given the consistent wind and lumpy conditions.

If you’re an expert and can handle the big stuff, Tuesday morning July 28th is your window. Clean, powerful, but demanding. For everyone else, it’s a waiting game. The forecasts can change, but right now, it’s looking bleak.

Rusty.

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