Big Island Hilo · Big Island · Hawaii
Papaikou Mill Surf Report & Forecast, Big Island Hilo, HI
Papaikou Mill, Big Island Hilo, Hawaii: 4–5 ft faces (2–3 ft Hawaiian scale), head high, at 10 am HST on Monday, Nov 9, rated Fair. The main swell is 5.4 ft at 8 seconds from the east-northeast, with a 6 mph onshore wind from the east-southeast, gusting 11 mph. Water is about 80°F, so a rashguard is enough; the next high tide is 2.0 ft at 2:15 pm.
4–5 ft
2–3 ft Hawaiian scale · occasional 6 ft
- Swell
- 5.4 ft · 8 s · ENEplus 1.6 ft · 12 s · N
- Wind
- 6 mph (ESE), gusts 11onshore
- Tide
- 1.2 ft risinghigh 2.0 ft at 2:15 pm
- Water
- 80°Frashguard
- Air
- 71°Ffeels like 71°F
- Sun
- rise 6:25 amset 5:43 pm
Papaikou Mill surf today and tomorrow
Best-rated hour today at Papaikou Mill: 6 pm, Good, on a rising low tide.
Blue band: surf face height from the low end to set waves; dotted: occasional larger sets. Grey line: tide, in feet on the right scale. Colour strip: the hourly rating. Arrows: wind direction and strength, teal when offshore, orange when onshore.
Best-rated hour tomorrow at Papaikou Mill: 6 am, Good, on a falling high tide.
Hour by hour as a table, today and tomorrow
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 4–5 ft | Fair | 6 mph onshore (E), gusts 12 | 2.4 ft |
| 7 am | 4–5 ft | Poor to Fair | 7 mph onshore (E), gusts 13 | 1.9 ft |
| 8 am | 4–5 ft | Fair | 6 mph onshore (ESE), gusts 11 | 1.4 ft |
| 9 am | 4–5 ft | Fair | 5 mph onshore (ESE) | 1.2 ft |
| 10 amnow | 4–5 ft | Fair | 5 mph onshore (ESE) | 1.2 ft |
| 11 am | 4–5 ft | Fair | 7 mph onshore (ESE) | 1.3 ft |
| 12 pm | 4–5 ft | Poor | 10 mph onshore (E), gusts 15 | 1.6 ft |
| 1 pm | 4–5 ft | Poor | 10 mph onshore (ESE), gusts 16 | 1.8 ft |
| 2 pm | 4–5 ft | Poor | 9 mph onshore (ESE) | 2.0 ft |
| 3 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 7 mph onshore (ESE) | 1.9 ft |
| 4 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 6 mph onshore (ESE) | 1.7 ft |
| 5 pm | 4 ft | Fair | 5 mph onshore (SE) | 1.3 ft |
| 6 pm | 4–5 ft | Good | 5 mph cross-shore (SSE) | 0.8 ft |
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 4–5 ft | Good | 4 mph offshore (WSW) | 2.7 ft |
| 7 am | 4–5 ft | Good | 4 mph offshore (WSW) | 2.2 ft |
| 8 am | 3–4 ft | Poor to Fair | 5 mph offshore (WSW) | 1.7 ft |
| 9 am | 3–4 ft | Poor to Fair | calm | 1.4 ft |
| 10 am | 3–4 ft | Poor to Fair | calm | 1.2 ft |
| 11 am | 3–4 ft | Fair | calm | 1.2 ft |
| 12 pm | 3–4 ft | Poor | calm | 1.4 ft |
| 1 pm | 4 ft | Fair | 5 mph onshore (ENE) | 1.6 ft |
| 2 pm | 4 ft | Poor to Fair | 8 mph onshore (ENE) | 1.8 ft |
| 3 pm | 4 ft | Poor to Fair | 8 mph onshore (ENE) | 1.8 ft |
| 4 pm | 3–4 ft | Poor | 8 mph onshore (ENE) | 1.7 ft |
| 5 pm | 4–5 ft | Poor to Fair | 7 mph onshore (ENE) | 1.4 ft |
| 6 pm | 4–5 ft | Fair | 5 mph onshore (NE) | 1.0 ft |
Papaikou Mill waves today: sets, lulls and how they break
At 10 am, sets at Papaikou Mill arrive about every 2 minutes with about 3 waves each, and the waves are mostly barreling and hollow.
- Set waves
- about 5.0 ft faces
- Waves per set
- about 3
- Sets
- every 2 minutes or so, each lasting about 16 s
- Lulls
- about 70 s between breaking waves
- How they break
- Barrelingwhich means the lip pitches out and can throw a barrel
- Shape
- Hollowwhich means throwing, barreling waves
- Breaking
- 68% of waves stand up and break where surfers sitThe rest roll through.
- Along-shore current
- moderate, about 0.9 mphThis is not a rip current forecast. For rip current risk, see the National Weather Service.
Papaikou Mill surf this weekend and the next 10 days
Next 10 days at Papaikou Mill: the biggest day is Thursday, Nov 12 at 5–9 ft, and the best-rated day is Thursday, Nov 12 (Great). This weekend: Saturday, Nov 14, 4–6 ft and Good; Sunday, Nov 15, 5–6 ft and Poor to Fair.
Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24
Days 11–16 for Papaikou Mill are in the Current app with a Premium subscription.
Bars: surf face height from the low end to set waves, by day. Colour strip: the day's best rating. Arrows: main swell direction. Shaded: this weekend.
The 10-day forecast as a table, with swell and wind
| Day | Surf | Rating | Main swell | Wind am | Wind pm | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | 4–5 ft | Good | 5.3 ft · 8 s · ENE | 6 mph onshore (ESE), gusts 11 | 9 mph onshore (ESE) | 6 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 3–5 ft | Good | 5.0 ft · 8 s · ENE | 5 mph offshore (WSW) | 8 mph onshore (ENE) | 6 am |
| Wed, Nov 11 | 3–5 ft | Good | 5.0 ft · 8 s · ENE | 9 mph cross-shore (N), gusts 14 | 10 mph cross-shore (NNE), gusts 16 | 6 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 5–9 ft | Great | 5.4 ft · 8 s · ENE | 4 mph offshore (W) | 8 mph onshore (NE) | 8 am |
| Fri, Nov 13 | 5–7 ft | Fair | 6.3 ft · 8 s · ENE | 9 mph onshore (ENE) | 10 mph onshore (ENE) | 6 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 4–6 ft | Good | 5.6 ft · 8 s · ENE | 8 mph onshore (ENE) | 8 mph onshore (NE) | 5 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 5–6 ft | Poor to Fair | 5.5 ft · 8 s · ENE | 8 mph onshore (E), gusts 15 | 9 mph onshore (E), gusts 14 | 2 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 4–6 ft | Good | 6.3 ft · 8 s · ENE | 6 mph cross-shore (SE) | 9 mph onshore (ESE), gusts 14 | 5 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 5–7 ft | Good | — | 7 mph onshore (SE) | 9 mph onshore (ESE) | 8 am |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 7–8 ft | Good | — | 7 mph cross-shore (SE) | 11 mph onshore (ESE) | 8 am |
| Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24 | Days 11–16 for Papaikou Mill are in the Current app with a Premium subscription. Get the app | |||||
Papaikou Mill tide chart and tide times
Tides at Papaikou Mill today, Monday, Nov 9: high 3.4 ft at 3:09 am, low 1.2 ft at 9:40 am, high 2.0 ft at 2:15 pm and low 0.2 ft at 8:26 pm. At 10 am the tide is 1.2 ft and rising.
Papaikou Mill tide chart, November 2026
| Day | Tides |
|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | High 3.4 ft at 3:09 amLow 1.2 ft at 9:40 amHigh 2.0 ft at 2:15 pmLow 0.2 ft at 8:26 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | High 3.3 ft at 3:42 amLow 1.2 ft at 10:21 amHigh 1.8 ft at 2:42 pmLow 0.2 ft at 8:54 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | High 3.2 ft at 4:16 amLow 1.2 ft at 11:05 amHigh 1.6 ft at 3:06 pmLow 0.2 ft at 9:21 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | High 3.0 ft at 4:55 amLow 1.3 ft at 11:53 amHigh 1.5 ft at 3:32 pmLow 0.3 ft at 9:50 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | High 2.9 ft at 5:37 amLow 1.4 ft at 12:55 pmHigh 1.5 ft at 3:54 pmLow 0.5 ft at 10:21 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | High 2.8 ft at 6:23 amLow 1.4 ft at 2:22 pmHigh 1.4 ft at 4:22 pmLow 0.8 ft at 10:55 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | High 2.8 ft at 7:17 amLow 1.3 ft at 4:10 pmHigh 1.3 ft at 5:48 pmLow 1.0 ft at 11:43 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | High 2.7 ft at 8:13 amLow 1.2 ft at 4:32 pmHigh 1.4 ft at 9:02 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | Low 1.2 ft at 1:07 amHigh 2.6 ft at 9:08 am |
Tide predictions, not observations. Heights in feet above MLLW.
Papaikou Mill water temperature
The water temperature at Papaikou Mill is about 80°F on Monday, Nov 9. With the air feeling like 71°F and a 6 mph wind, a rashguard is enough. Over the next week the water stays between 79 and 80°F.
Water temperature is a forecast for the water at this spot, not a buoy reading. The wetsuit suggestion uses Billabong's wetsuit temperature scale, adjusted for air temperature and wind.
Surf spots near Papaikou Mill
- Honoli'i1.6 mi S · 4 ft · Poor
- Hilo Breakwall2.5 mi SSE · 4–5 ft · Poor
- Bay Front3.7 mi S · 1–2 ft · Poor
- Chocks4.0 mi SE · 3–4 ft · Poor
- Richardsons5.5 mi ESE · 4–5 ft · Great
- Kolekole7.5 mi NNW · 4–5 ft · Fair
Rated right now. The Current app animates the surf itself on a live map of the whole coast. See the app →
About Papaikou Mill
Papaikou Mill is a reef break on the Hilo of the Big Island, Hawaii, facing east.
Follow Papaikou Mill in the Current app
The first 10 days are free, and Premium adds days 11–16.
Forecasts are estimates. Never rely on them for safety. For rip current risk and beach hazards, check the National Weather Service. Forecasts from Current's novel physics simulation. No AI. No black boxes. Ocean and weather data: NOAA (U.S. government data). NOAA does not endorse this site.