Waimanalo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board, but maybe leave it in the car for a while. It’s looking pretty bleak out there. The wind is gonna be howling onshore from the ENE for the entire run, absolutely killing any chance of clean surf. We’ve got a solid 16-day window ahead, but it’s not shaping up to be one for the highlights reel.

The first good news is that there is surf on offer. It starts Thursday afternoon, August 6th, at Waimanalo. The waves are small, around 3ft, from the ENE, but with that wind on it, it’s a complete mess. That poor surf quality score tells you everything. The water's 80°, which is about normal for this time of year, so at least you won't need a hood on the drive over to the beach (Big Island).

Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th see the swell pick up a little, pushing to 5ft Saturday, but that onshore wind is still there, blowing 20-22 mph. This is going to be bumpy and blown out. Not worth the paddle.

There's a bump of energy over the weekend, the 9th and 10th, with the swell moving from ENE to E and the period stretching to 8 seconds. It gets to around 6ft on Sunday, but it's still all onshore wind. We're talking weak to moderate energy here, with the combined energy reading in the 300s. It’s there, but it’s not clean.

The wind does start to lay down a touch during the week of August 10th, but we're still dealing with onshore and cross-onshore breezes. The swell settles back to that 4ft to 5ft range with short periods. There's still nothing here to get excited about. The energy has dropped back into the 100s and 200s, which tells you how weak it is.

Then things get interesting, but not in a good way. From around the 14th, the swell starts to build again, and the wind gets stronger too. By Saturday the 15th, we're looking at 7ft surf, but it's coming with a strong onshore breeze up to 28 mph. The swell energy is kicking into high gear, with readings in the 600s, but all that power is just creating a stormy, blown-out mess. The wave comment says it all: poor surf conditions.

The swell peaks around Tuesday, August 18th, with the biggest waves of the period hitting 8ft. It’s a lot of water moving around, with strong energy values up in the 600s and even 700s. The period is a short 8 seconds, so it's all windswell and chop. This is not for the faint of heart and definitely not for beginners. Over 8ft is expert territory, so this is pushing the limits. If you’re a big-wave charger, there’s power here, but it will be angry and messy.

After that peak, it slowly fades through the last few days of the 21st, dropping back down to 5ft by the 21st, but the wind is still on it. There's still no real quality to be had.

So, in short, the whole 16-day window is a write-off for paddle surfing. The consistent ENE wind is the main problem, and that's not changing. If you're a local who can handle a tough paddle and just need to get wet, you might find some of that bigger, messy stuff mid-month, but the more honest call is that this setup looks a lot more interesting for the kite surfers than it does for us.

Keep an eye on the charts, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Things can change, and it tends not to stay this poor for long, but for now, I'd find something else to do.

Rusty.

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