Waimanalo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, so, lookin’ at this patch of ocean for the next couple of weeks, an’ I gotta be straight with ya – it’s a bit of a bummer. We’ve got waves, sure, but every single entry is marked as “poor surf conditions.” That’s a red flag straight off the bat. The whole 16-day window is basically one long, continuous stretch of onshore wind with messy, short-period swell, so there isn’t really a standout window. The wind is an absolute killer here, blowin’ straight onshore from the ENE at a solid 16 to 25 mph, just tearing the place up.

The only break we’ve got to even talk about is Waimanalo, which is an exposed, east-facing beach. It’s a beginner zone, an’ it’s “fairly consistent,” but with the conditions on offer, that consistency just means a constant wall of slop.

Let’s run through it. From Friday the 10th right through the weekend, we’re lookin’ at 6 ft to 7 ft of choppy, wind-blown junk. The swell period is short, around 7 seconds (7s), so there’s no power or shape to it. The combined energy sits between 312 and 596 (moderate), but with that stiff onshore wind, it’s just a messy, blown-out battlefield. For a beginner spot, anything over 5 ft is already getting big for the learners, and by Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th we’re pushing 7 ft – that’s expert territory for the conditions. This isn’t paddle surfing; with that wind and chop, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than a traditional paddle session.

Into the second week, from Monday the 14th, the swell drops a touch but the wind shifts to a cross-onshore, still from the ENE at 16-19 mph. The water temps? We don’t have a specific number, but the anomaly label is a dash, so it’s likely pretty average for the time of year. The waves sit around 4 ft to 6 ft, period stays short at 6-8 seconds, and the energy drops into the 147 to 297 range (weak to moderate). It’s still lumpy, choppy, and cross-onshore. Not good.

The last few days of the month, from the 22nd of July onward, the swell bottom’s out completely – dropping to 3 ft to 5 ft, but still with that damn wind. The energy is weak at 162-224.

Honestly, there’s no best day. There’s no hidden gem. If you absolutely have to get wet, maybe a dawn patrol on Thursday the 16th morning, when the swell is 4 ft and the winds are “moderate breeze” cross-onshore, which is the least awful option. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up. For an exposed beach break like Waimanalo, you need clean wind. We don’t get a single day of that here. It’s a solid two-week write-off. Keep an eye on the charts, though – it tends not to stay this poor forever.

Rusty.

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