Banna Strand Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got the look for Banna Strand (Ireland). Strap in, because honestly, this is one of the quietest runs I’ve seen in a while. We’ve got a massive 16-day window ahead, but the surf is just not happening for most of it. The water is sitting at 65°F with a 4°F anomaly—that’s much warmer than usual for this time of year, which is a nice surprise for the skin, but the waves are not playing ball.

We start off from Saturday, 15 August, right through to Friday, 21 August, with poor surf conditions across the board. The water’s warm, but the swell is weak, with combined energy readings mostly under 300 (162 on Saturday morning, 120 that afternoon, and barely hitting 103 on Sunday). Winds are cross or cross-on, and the swell direction is sitting around WNW to W, which is okay for Banna, but the heights are tiny—around 3 ft to 4 ft—and the period is short at 7 to 8 seconds. There’s a bit of a bump on Wednesday, 19 August, with swell hitting 7 ft to 8 ft and energy jumping to 606 and 910, but it’s onshore wind at 19 mph from the west, making it chopped out and messy. This is all a no-go for paddle surfing—honestly, with the strong onshore wind and 7 ft+ swell, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than surfboards.

Thursday, 20 August, and Friday, 21 August, stay poor with rain showers, cross-on winds at 16 to 19 mph, and swell around 7 ft (energy 912 and 503). The only slight glimmer comes on Friday morning with a score of 1 out of 10 and marginal surf—still not worth paddling out for.

Then we hit a real gap. From Saturday, 22 August, through to Saturday, 29 August, there’s almost nothing. The swell drops to 0.7 ft to 2 ft, energy is under 120 most days, and the period is all over the place—some 6 seconds, a 14-second one on Sunday afternoon that’s too long and weak. Winds are mostly cross-off or clean on a few mornings, like 22 August and 25 August, but with waves that tiny, you’re just floating. It’s a blank run, and with Banna being a consistent spot normally, this dry spell is unusual.

The only standout, if you can call it that, is Thursday, 27 August. The morning brings clear skies, glassy conditions with a 3 mph southerly breeze, and swell at 2 ft from the WSW with a 9-second period. Combined energy is only 73, so weak, but it’s the cleanest we’ll see all forecast. For a true beginner or a longboarder wanting a glide, it’s surfable but very ordinary. Banna Strand is an exposed sandbar, so on a good day it can handle the west swell, but here the size is just too small to get excited.

Overall, the best option in the whole 16 days is that Thursday morning—27 August. It’s not a cracker, but it’s clean, glassy, and the only time the conditions line up. Don’t expect much else; the second week is a write-off. Keep an eye on forecasts, because this area tends not to stay flat for long, but for now, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty

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