Waihee Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let’s get straight into it.

The honest truth is, for the next 16 days, this stretch of coast is looking grim for a proper paddle session. The swell is hitting the reef and point at Waihee, but the wind is just relentless. It’s a constant cross-onshore flow from the ENE, chopping everything up. The forecast shows a lot of poor surf conditions with zero scores across the board, which is a real bummer.

The first week is a write-off. From Saturday the 29th of August, right through to the end of the first week, the wind is a problem. You’re looking at swell heights around 5 ft to 6 ft, but the energy is weak to moderate (280 to 466), and the swell period is a short, choppy 7 to 8 seconds. The wind is consistently cross-on, 12 to 15 mph, just making a mess of it. The water temp is about 80°, which is bang on average for the time of year, nothing special there.

Towards the end of the first week and into the second, it gets bigger but uglier. By Saturday the 5th of September, the swell jumps to 8 ft, and the energy is getting strong (1390), but the wind is still cross-on at 15 mph. The period stretches to 11 seconds, which is a nice long period, but that combined with a cross-on breeze is going to make it lumpy and hard to find a clean face. This is more of a kite-surfing setup than a pure surfing one at that point.

The real kicker comes on Sunday the 6th of September. The swell is a solid 13 ft, the energy is very strong (3231), and the wind is a fresh cross-on 22 mph, turning into a near gale from the NE at 31 mph in the afternoon. That’s blown out, dangerous, and only for the most experienced out there. The wave period is 10 seconds, which is a bit short for that size, so it’ll be a washing machine. After that, it drops back to 5 ft to 7 ft, but the wind stays cross-on, keeping the quality poor.

The absolute best of a bad bunch is the afternoon of Friday the 11th of September. The swell is 5 ft from the NE, with a period of 10 seconds, and the wind drops to a gentle 9 mph cross-on. The energy is moderate (489). It’s still cross-on, but the lighter wind will make it less choppy. It’s the only period where the conditions are half-decent, but it’s still not a standout. The crowd profile says "sometimes" at Waihee, so you might get a few others out, but with conditions this marginal, it’ll be quiet.

There is a gap of over a week of poor conditions before that. Honestly, the best wave is going to be the one you don’t have to paddle into. For the rest of the window, it’s a hard pass. The setup is interesting for the wind, but for a paddle surfer, it’s a waiting game.

- Rusty

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