Oxwich Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

webmaster from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

Oxwich doesn't break very often. Summer sunbathers who flood here in their thousands would not suspect that this calm and sheltered spot could ever hold any interest to surfers. For most of the time, they would be right.

Oxwich needs a grunty SW or even bigger West swell to work; something that happens maybe 5 or 10 times each year, each time lasting only a day or so. Late Autumn and Winter are the most likely times. In this respect it is a bit like Freshwater East and Tenby North Beach.

Having lived in a house overlooking the Bay for several years, I would estimate that the open water swell needs to be above 4.5m before Oxwich starts to become surfable, and almost double that for it to produce the classic head-high waves that everyone is hoping for. These conditions only occur when a very deep Atlantic low has moved into the SW approaches with storm force West or South West winds to the south of Ireland and through the Bristol Channel. The Pembroke Buoy may report wave heights in excess of 10m during these big SW storms. If you ever see that, drop everything because these are classic Oxwich conditions.

Oxwich faces SE and is sheltered from the howling SW to W gales that accompany theses storm swell. Better still the local topography seems to turn the wind into a localised offshore right in front of the car park, even if it is blowing from the SW. In general, if the swell is big enough for Oxwich to work, the wind will not be a problem.

When it is working Oxwich is an excellent break with punchy left and right waves that get hollow at high tide and especially as the tide tends to drop back.

More often than not, there will be a large crowd in the water when the break is working even if that happens on a February week day. That said, I have only experienced a friendly atmosphere.

You can find larger and less crowded waves by walking a few hundred metres East towards the Nicholaston stream. Usually, the price you will pay is that as you move away from the car park in the corner, the break gets more wind affected and the quality drops off, tending to close out more. Even so, it is well worth bearing in mind that this part of the beach can still produce a decent waist-shoulder high wave when the swell is too small for the car park end; just as long as wind has some North in it. This often happens for a day or two after the swell has peaked, by which time most surfers will have lost interest.

Even on good days, as the tide drops, so do the waves at the beach. Dont't be disheartened. If you stick around pretty soon the excellent Oxwich Point will start to fire as the tide approaches low water. The name of this break is misleading because it is really a reef two thirds of the way from the beach to the actual Point. Waves here are usually a foot bigger than the beach break at high tide: indeed, it is one of the better Gower Reefs with a nice right wall.

Oxwich Bay is one of Britain's finest beaches and the backdrop makes for an exceptionally scenic setting.

2010-03-05