Whakatane Heads Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it.

Straight up, the next 16 days are a real mixed bag for our stretch of coast. There’s going to be plenty of waiting around for something half-decent, and the early part of the window is pretty grim. It’s one of those runs where you’ve gotta be patient and pick your moments. Don't be afraid to have a surf or two instead of a paddle.

The window opens with a bit of a dud. Monday the 31st is a write-off, with a lumpy 5.2ft of wind-affected slop blowing straight out of the WNW. That’s all noise and no good. Tuesday the 1st offers a tiny bit of hope in the morning, with a cleaner 3.2ft, but it’s still pretty ordinary. The afternoon of the 1st is small but at least glassy, a little 1.3ft ripple, nothing to get excited about.

We go through a poor patch from Wednesday the 2nd through to Thursday the 3rd, with small, choppy and crossed-out conditions. Not worth the drive. Friday the 4th gets a bit more push, that 6.2ft shows up in the afternoon, but it's also crossed-on and choppy and it doesn’t translate into anything rideable.

Now, there are a couple of standouts in this mess. The first one is the morning of Saturday the 5th of September. It’s not big, with 2.6ft, but the wind is a light cross-off, and it’ll clean up the face nicely. The consistency is fair, and even though it’s not a big day, the conditions should make it the pick of the first week. The water temp is sitting at 57.2°, which is about average for this time of year, so not a big deal.

Following that, Sunday the 6th gets messy again as a fresh cross-onshore breeze kicks up a lumpy 5.9ft. So, you’re back to waiting.

Things start to look a little more promising from Monday the 7th, with some clean, cross-off conditions and a very surfable 3.9ft to 4.3ft. This is more like it, but it’s still fairly ordinary. There’s another small window on the 8th, though it’s tiny. The rest of that week into the 14th is mostly flat and poor. There’s a lot of 0.7ft to 1.0ft junk and light winds, but nothing with any power.

The last couple of days of the window, the 14th and 15th, are worth noting. It’s still small, but the ocean goes glassy with the 3.3ft, and there’s a clean feel to it. It’s not a smashfest, but it’ll be the cleanest it's been for a while. For the long-range, it’s promising but less certain. It’s one of those small and clean windows that could be fun on the inside.

Overall, the standout is the Saturday the 5th morning session, with the 2.6ft and the clean cross-off wind. The other one to keep an eye on is the 14th and 15th, for that clean glassy 3.3ft. The rest is a lot of waiting. This whole period is a real test of patience; with the inconsistent and mostly poor surf, but there's always a chance the forecasts change. Keep the board waxed.

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