Buoy 51002
SW Hawaii
South swell lead buoy
A useful offshore reference buoy for tracking south swell energy headed toward Kauai.
Latest Snapshot
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Station Context
Region: Southwest of Hawaii
Station type: Deep-water offshore buoy
Position: 17.070°, 157.755°W
Distance to Poipu: 304.2 nautical miles
NDBC lists this station as 215 NM SSW of Hilo. It can be a useful early indicator for south swell energy before it reaches Kauai’s south shore.
Historical Swell
Blue shows swell height over time. Hover points to see period and direction.
Historical swell chart unavailable for this buoy right now.
How to Use This Buoy
What to Watch
- Use it to spot incoming south swell energy before it reaches Poipu and the rest of Kauai’s south shore.
- Watch period and direction here to judge whether a south swell is lined up well enough to matter locally.
- Compare it with your local south shore observations to get a feel for lead time on different periods.
How to Read It
- If 51002 lights up while north shore buoys stay quiet, that is a good clue you are looking at a more southerly swell event.
- Longer-period south swell energy here can offer useful advance warning for Kauai’s south-facing breaks.
- Because it is far from Kauai, this station is best used for trend and timing rather than exact surf size at the beach.
Swell Travel Time
Swell timing from this buoy uses the same deep-water group-speed and signed-distance method documented in the technical guide.
See the swell timing method