Yonabaru Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real about the surf ahead. Honestly, the next couple of weeks are looking pretty flat and frustrating around here. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak, and messy waves, and the wind isn’t doing us any favors for most of it. It’s one of those times where you might be better off giving the board a rest and finding something else to do.

The only spot with any kind of wave on the radar is Yonabaru, and even that’s a struggle. It’s a pretty exposed beginner-friendly beach, and normally it can pick up something, but the guidance is pretty bleak. The swell energy is weak for the most part, with readings in the low hundreds or even below 100 (like 297 down to 30) – that’s just not enough push to get anything decent breaking.

For the first part of the period, through the 15th, we’re looking at tiny waves – nothing over 3ft. The wind is mostly cross or cross-onshore, which chops things up and makes it messy. There’s a brief window on Wednesday afternoon the 12th where the wind actually goes offshore and it cleans up, but the swell is only 2ft, so it’s just not worth getting excited about. Same story on Sunday the 16th – a bit of a cross-off wind, but again, tiny 2ft waves.

Then, from the 17th through the 20th, the wind swings onshore and actually builds to a fresh breeze (19 mph). That’s going to make things pretty rough and bumpy, even with the swell staying small around 2ft to 4ft. Not good.

Around the 21st, we finally see a pulse of energy. The swell jumps up a bit, with combined energy hitting 458 and then 480. That’s a moderate push, and the swell height comes up to around 7ft. But here’s the catch – the period is short, about 8 seconds, and the wind is cross-onshore. So you’re getting a bit of size but with a lot of chop. It’s not going to be clean, and for a beginner spot like this, that 7ft might be pushing it.

After that little pulse, it drops back down again fairly quickly, and the wind stays messy. Then at the very end of the forecast, around the 24th and 25th, there’s another surge – the energy gets strong, readings of 1113 and 968, with waves pushing 7ft. That’s the biggest we see, but again, the period is short and the wind is cross-onshore. It’ll be a lumpy, windy mess, not the kind of day you’d want to paddle out for a relaxing session. That’s more of a churn.

So, plain and simple, there are no good surf options in this 16-day window. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so that’s not a factor. The lack of any decent swell with clean winds is the main problem. For an exposed beach like Yonabaru, it can sometimes pull in a bit more, but the forecast just doesn’t have it. Given the onshore winds and the size later on, this setup might actually look more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. But for us surfers, it’s a waiting game. Forecasts can always change, but as it stands, it’s a blank run.

Rusty.

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