Waiwakaiho Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' for the Waiwakaiho sandbar.

This is a rough one to start, folks. For the entire first week, from Sunday the 30th of August right through to the end of the first week of September, the surf is gonna be a battle. We've got a solid amount of swell, no doubt, with wave energy readings climbing well into the thousands (1196 to 5210 range), but the wind is the killer. It's coming from the WSW, blowing cross or cross-onshore and kicking up a real lumpy, choppy mess. The swell direction from the WSW is actually lining up with what this break likes best, but with that wind, it’s all just blown-out slop. The first few days have waves pushing 8 ft to 13 ft with a short period of only 8 seconds, so it’s just a washing machine. There’s no point even looking at the water for a surf until we get some wind relief.

The real standout, the only window of true quality in this whole 16-day run, is the morning of Tuesday, the 8th of September. The wind is forecast to swing around to a light SSW breeze at just 3 mph, creating a clean, glassy surface. We’ll see an offshore breeze (cross-off) and clean conditions. The swell will be a manageable 5 ft from the WSW, with a period of 13 seconds, giving it some decent power and shape. The combined energy is 907, which is moderate. It won't be a giant day, but it will be the only time the conditions all line up for a proper session. The water temp is sitting around 57°F, which is bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

After that morning, the wind turns bad again straight away. The afternoon of the 8th gets messy, and then we hit a dry spell with very little energy (400 and 364) on the 9th of September. The swell comes back big on the 10th and 11th of September, with waves up to 15 ft and heaps of energy (up to 7034), but the wind is still cross or cross-on, so it's just big and ugly. You’d need to be an expert lifeguard or very determined to paddle out.

Towards the end of the run, on Sunday the 13th, there’s a bit of a tease. A clean morning with a light NW breeze and a very long-period groundswell (19 seconds) at only 4 ft. That period is super long, so the waves will be fat and slow, better for a longboard or a point break, not so much a beach/sandbar setup. The energy is still high (2091) for such a small wave.

So here’s the bottom line: the only real standout in this entire 16-day forecast is the morning of Tuesday, 8th of September. It's the only time it looks truly clean and ridable. Save your energy for that. The rest is a write-off unless you like getting blown off your board.

Rusty.

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