Hawaii Beach Conditions: Rip Current Risk and Surf

The National Weather Service Rip Current Risk for each of the 5 Hawaii forecast zones is reproduced above exactly as the issuing office wrote it, with the issuance time attached, so you can read the official product for the specific zone you are standing in. No forecast can tell you the water is safe: swim near a lifeguard, read the flag flying on that beach, and treat piers and jetties as permanently dangerous regardless of the category.

NWS Honolulu publishes a Surf Zone Forecast organized by island, with AM and PM surf heights broken out by north, west, south and east facing shores. It does not publish a Low, Moderate or High rip current category anywhere in the product; instead the legend states that you should expect to encounter rip currents in or near the surf zone, with rip current strength increasing with surf size. The category is the issuing office's own decision, so on Hawaii beaches the surf height, swell and hazard statements above carry the warning.

Low Rip Current Risk means the risk for rip currents is low, however, life threatening rip currents often occur in the vicinity of groins, jetties, reefs, and piers. That is the official definition, quoted from NWS Instruction 10-320 (June 5, 2025), section 2.6.1. Low is not the same as none, and it explicitly is not a statement about the water next to a structure.

One National Weather Service forecast office covers the Hawaii coast: HFO. Between them they issue 5 surf zone forecast zones, including Big Island Leeward, Big Island Windward and Southeast, Kauai, Maui. Each office writes its own product, which is why two adjacent stretches of the same coast can carry different categories on the same afternoon.

NWS Instruction 10-320 says the Surf Zone Forecast should be issued at least once per day on a seasonal basis, and caps its expiration at 24 hours from issuance. Some offices reissue more often than that; NWS Milwaukee, for example, writes its beach forecast twice a day. This page shows the issuance time on every zone and flags any product older than 12 hours, because a forecast written this morning is a different thing from one written yesterday.

A Rip Current Statement carries rip current information only, and NWS issues it to highlight a moderate or high rip current threat. A Beach Hazards Statement covers everything else, including dangerous currents, unusually cold water, lightning along the shoreline, and unusual surf that does not meet advisory criteria. NWS Instruction 10-320 says Gulf and southern Atlantic offices primarily use the Rip Current Statement, while West Coast and Great Lakes offices primarily use the Beach Hazards Statement. A High Surf Advisory is a separate, criteria based product for breaking wave action that threatens life and property.

Current NWS guidance leads with relaxing: a rip current does not pull you under, it carries you out. Do not try to swim directly into shore. Swim along the shoreline until you escape the current's pull, then swim at an angle toward the beach. If you feel you cannot reach shore, relax, face the shore, and call or wave for help. If you are on the beach and someone else is caught, alert the lifeguard or call 911, throw them something that floats, and do not swim out to them: NWS notes that many would-be rescuers have drowned trying to help.

There is no closed season here. There is no closed season here; the water is swimmable year round and only the direction the swell comes from changes. Lifeguard coverage in Hawaii is organized county by county rather than statewide.

Lifeguard coverage in Hawaii is organized county by county rather than statewide. The state beach safety site was established through cooperation between the Hawaii Lifeguard Association, the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Maui, the Hawaii Department of Health, the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. Many of the most heavily visited beaches have towers, but a great deal of Hawaii shoreline does not, and NWS Honolulu closes its forecast by urging swimmers to exercise caution at all times and enter the water near a lifeguard.