Bamburgh Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

To be straight with you, the whole 16-day window is a bit of a struggle for Bamburgh. The swell is there, but it’s never clean and lined up. The wind is a constant problem, almost always coming from the north or northeast, which is either cross-onshore or straight onshore, messing up the face of the wave. It’s a tough run of poor surf conditions, and there’s not a single standout session that I’d get excited about.

The first week is a write-off. Thursday morning the 9th is glassy and clear, but the swell is a tiny 1.0ft at 6 seconds – just not enough push. The water temp is 56°, which is bang on average for the time of year, so no worries there. But the afternoon picks up a light cross-on breeze, and the waves are too small to matter. This pattern of small, weak swell and onshore wind just repeats. Friday and Saturday are the same story: small, messy, and not worth a paddle. The wave energy is pathetic, barely cracking 60 (62) on Friday morning, and dropping to single digits (9) by Saturday afternoon.

Sunday the 12th and Monday the 13th see a slight bump in size to 3ft and 3ft, but the wind is still cross-onshore, making it choppy and lumpy. The period is a short 6-7 seconds, so it’s just windswill. It stays like this – poor surf conditions, moderate chop, and weak energy – right through the rest of the week.

As we push into the second week, things get a bit bigger but not better. Monday the 20th sees swell hitting 5ft, and by Tuesday the 21st it’s at 6ft, with a brief period of 8 seconds. That’s a moderate wave energy (460) behind it, but the wind is a strong cross-onshore at 25 mph, making it a total mess. It’s as ugly as it sounds. This swell is too big for beginners and the conditions are just raw. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, with that strong, consistent wind and lumpy, blown-out faces.

The best of a bad bunch might be the last few days, but it’s still not great. Friday the 24th morning has a cross-shore wind and a 4ft swell from the NNE with a 9-second period, which is the cleanest wind we get, but it’s still a gentle cross-shore chop. The energy is moderate (233). But it’s a long way out, and the week before is a dead loss. There’s a real gap of about 11 days from the start where nothing is worth getting wet for.

So, bottom line: Bamburgh has a very poor forecast. The surf is either too small, too choppy, or both. No standouts, no hidden gems. I wish I had better news.

Rusty.

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