Waimarama Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s coming our way for the next couple of weeks.

We’ve got a solid run of surf on the cards, kicking off this Sunday morning and looking promising right through to the middle of the following week. The standout window is the first few days, with some proper clean conditions that’ll get the blood pumping. There’s a bit of a lull building towards the end of the first week and into the second, with wind and swell direction making things tricky, but there’s a glimmer of something a bit different for a Thursday morning about 11 days out. Let’s break it down.

Sunday, July 26th gets us started. Waimarama sees a 7 ft S swell, short period at 8 seconds. The morning has a gentle offshore breeze from the SW, which will keep it clean. The combined energy is strong at 1164, so there’s some real push there. Expect some nice, well-formed lines for the early session. The afternoon sees the wind swing southerly and pick up, turning the conditions a bit cross-offside, and the swell drops back to 4 ft from the ESE with a much longer 14-second period.

Monday, July 27th is a cracker. A moderate offshore from the SW all day, with swell sitting around 5 ft to 6 ft from the ESE. The period is a solid 13 seconds, so this is a proper groundswell with good shape. The combined energy is massive – 1652 in the morning and 1525 in the afternoon. This is excellent, powerful surf for experienced surfers. You’ll want to be on your game.

Tuesday, July 28th is the pick of the bunch for the first week. The morning brings a gentle offshore from the SW and a solid 8 ft SE groundswell. The energy has jumped to 1896. The waves will have real muscle and a proper long period of 13 seconds. For an experienced surfer, this is about as good as it gets. It’s punchy, it’s clean, and it’s all there for the taking. The afternoon stays at 8 ft but switches to a cross-offshore wind from the south, so still rideable.

The quality starts to dip on Wednesday, July 29th as the wind goes cross and then onshore, but the morning is still a clean 6 ft from the ESE with a 13-second period.

From Thursday, July 30th through the start of the following week, the conditions get messy. The wind turns cross-onshore and onshore, the swells drop in size and quality, and we get some lumpy, poor to marginal conditions. Expect a gap of about four to five days where the surf isn’t really worth chasing at Waimarama. There’s a short period, junky NE windswell on the Friday afternoon, and the following Saturday and Sunday see cleaner cross-offshore winds again, but the swell energy is much lower.

Then we get a fascinating little window on Thursday, August 6th. A morning of 4 ft S swell with a very long 16-second period under gentle cross-offshore winds. The combined energy is moderate at 1031, but that long period means a long, clean groundswell. This could set up really nicely, but with a long period like that, a beach-break setup might see it breaking a bit straight. It’s one to keep an eye on for a point or a reef setup.

After that, the wind turns onshore again through the 8th and 9th of August, with moderate cross-onshore winds making things choppy and poor.

So, the best advice I can give you? Get in the water Monday morning, July 27th and definitely Tuesday morning, July 28th. That 8 ft SE swell with the gentle offshore is the highlight of this whole outlook.

Stay salty,
Rusty

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