Maui Wind Swell Hyperlocal ocean conditions

About

Built on Maui. Always free.

AI-corrected wind — High-resolution forecasts with corrections trained on 19 local weather stations
AI-enhanced swell — Blended buoy + model forecasts, corrected with 13+ years of observations and machine learning
Live conditions — Real-time wind and swell from stations across Maui with forecast overlay
Buoy tracking — Pacific buoy observations with swell component analysis and Maui arrival estimates
Tide predictions — NOAA station data for Kahului, Kihei, Lahaina & Hana
All free, always — No subscriptions, no paywalls

Zero hassle — just the highest quality public data enhanced with AI and modern design.

Reading the Display

Wind

  • Interactive map – Color-coded wind speeds across the island with animated playback through the day. Four rendering styles: flow, smooth gradient, cartographic, and classic contour
  • Regional forecasts – Per-region wind speed, direction, and gusts with AI-generated descriptions
  • Hourly sparklines – Wind speed chart throughout the day with current hour highlighted
  • Correction annotations – A label like “↓35%” means the AI-corrected speed is 35% lower than the base physics model predicted. Shown for the first 2 days at sheltered regions (South Maui, West Maui, East Maui)

Live

  • Observations + forecast – Real-time wind and swell charts with the rest of today's forecast overlaid for comparison
  • Swell components – Individual swell components with height, period, direction, and island shadow notes where Maui blocks certain swells
  • Station coverage – Wind data from multiple stations per region; swell from NDBC and CDIP buoys

The Live page bridges real-time observations and forecast data so you can see how today is actually tracking.

Forecast

  • Overview mode – Wind, swell, and tide conditions for all five regions at the selected hour
  • Detail mode – Hourly wind map with per-region swell and tide forecasts and AI-generated descriptions
  • Today & tomorrow – Full two-day forecast with hour-by-hour stepping

The Forecast page is the fastest way to check conditions across Maui.

Tides

  • Continuous curve – Shows tide height throughout the day
  • High/Low markers – Labeled points indicate high and low tide times
  • Current time indicator – Vertical line shows the currently selected hour

Swell

  • Direction arrow – Shows where waves are heading (toward shore)
  • Cardinal direction – Where the swell originates (e.g., NW = northwest swell)
  • Height – Wave face height, color-coded by size
  • Period – Time between waves in seconds, color-coded by type
  • Energy bar – Visual indicator of relative wave power

Swell components are shown with their individual height, period, and direction. The period color indicates swell type.

Period Color Coding

14s+ – Long ground swell 10-13s – Medium ground swell 7-9s – Wind swell <7s – Wind chop

Buoys

  • Interactive map – Zoomable map showing NDBC buoy stations across the Pacific with routes to Maui
  • Swell components – Per-buoy breakdown of swell height, period, direction, energy, and spread
  • Maui arrival estimates – Estimated travel time and arrival height for each swell component at each affected region
  • History chart – Combined swell height over the past 24 hours with direction arrows

The Buoys page provides a real-time view of raw Pacific buoy observations, complementing the processed swell forecasts on the Forecast page.

This Week

  • 5-day outlook – Wind and swell conditions for the next 5 days per region
  • Wind sparklines – Per-region wind speed trends with morning and afternoon speeds, direction arrows
  • Swell sparklines – Per-region swell height trends with confidence bands that widen for later days, plus direction arrows and period
  • Daily summaries – AI-generated island-wide wind and swell descriptions for each day

The This Week page shows the 5-day outlook with regional sparkline trends and wind map thumbnails for each day.

Special Thanks

Mahalo to GP's Maui Surf Report for introducing us to the UH WRF wind maps and for helpful posts on swell windows and travel times. If you're looking for Maui's best daily surf report, check out GP's blog.

Mahalo to WindyTron for sharing real-time wind station data from Hookipa. WindyTron is a great resource for live Maui wind conditions.

Install the App

Add Maui Wind Swell to your home screen for quick, app-like access. On Chrome or Edge, look for the install icon in the address bar. On iOS Safari, tap the Share button then "Add to Home Screen".

Settings

Tap the gear icon on any page to customize your experience: light or dark theme, wind speed units (kts/mph), wave height units (ft/m), map rendering style, and a favorite region that gets priority across all pages.

Contact

Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email mauiwindswell@technicallyhawaiian.com

System health: Status Dashboard