Sunset Beach Alert Guide

Hawaii, USA · part of the Sunset Beach spot guide

The Waimea Bay buoy (51201) is a waves-only Waverider that reports no wind, so this observation alert keys on swell only — judge wind separately. The height below is the buoy’s open-ocean reading, not the true face, and the North Shore local scale reports about half the true face again.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Read the Waimea buoy (51201) direction first — want northwest to west-northwest, ideal around 315 to 320°; pure west is sectiony and strong-rip, far north-northeast is smaller.
2. 2.Prioritise period — 14 seconds and up is organised and powerful, under 10-to-11 seconds is junky and shifty in a bad way.
3. 3.Judge size knowing the buoy height is not the face, and remember the Hawaiian-scale halving when reading local reports — a few feet of buoy height switches on the Point, ten feet and up lights West Peak.
4. 4.Judge wind separately — the buoy has no wind field — and want a light south or south-southeast offshore or a glassy pre-trade dawn, killing it on a strong onshore northwest.
5. 5.Respect the rip, which scales with the swell and can reverse on big west swells — plan the paddle-out and the exit before entering.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: S–SSE offshore (or glassy dawn) — from 150° to 210° (SSE–SSW).

Tide matters despite a modest range — low-to-mid tide favours the Inside Bowl and Main Peak for punch and shape, mid-to-high the softer inside, and bigger long-period swell tolerates more tide.

Dial it in