Bristol Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee and let’s talk about what’s happening in your local waters right now. This is Bristol we're looking at – a reef break that's pretty consistent round here, handling swells from the NNW best. The water is sitting at 74°, which feels a touch warmer than normal for early September, so that’s a nice surprise for the skin.

Honestly, mate, I’ve got to be straight with you – the next couple of weeks look like a bit of a flat, scrappy mess. We’ve got nothing but "poor surf conditions" stamped all over the forecast for the next 16 days. There isn’t a single standout session in the bunch.

Right off the bat, we start with Sunday the 6th and it’s already a write-off. A 4ft windswell from the north with a short 6-second period, blowing 30 km/h cross-onshore, making it lumpy and pretty hopeless. Combined energy is moderate at 136, but it’s all noise and no shape.

Monday the 7th is smaller, around 2ft, but the period bumps up to 12 seconds – that’s a bit of groundswell trying to push in. Problem is, the wind is still cross-onshore and the energy (289) isn’t being put to good use. Still poor.

This pattern basically holds all the way through. The swell height bounces between 1.0ft and 4ft through the first week, but the wind just won’t cooperate. It’s almost always cross-onshore, sometimes onshore, with speeds from 15 to 30 km/h. There is a short window on Tuesday the 8th afternoon where the wind goes "on," but with a 4ft, 8-second NNE windswell and moderate energy (263), it’s still a pretty average, messy offering.

Heading into the second week, things go from bad to worse. Swell sizes drop to 2ft or less by Saturday the 19th, and the combined energy falls below 100, which means it’s weak all round. Long period swells pop up occasionally – like a 13-second NNW swell on Monday the 14th – but at only 2ft and with onshore wind, it’s a teaser that won’t deliver at a reef setup.

Look, if you’re a regular, you know Bristol can turn on when the conditions line up. But in this 16-day window, there’s nothing to get excited about. It’s a blank run. No standouts. No best days. Just a lot of choppy, lumpy, or weak surf. All you can do is watch the forecast and hope things shift.

– Rusty

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