Crantock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the Crantock forecast. Straight up, the next 16 days are a tough slog for paddle surfing. There’s a huge gap at the start with absolutely nothing worth paddling out for. The first recommendation doesn’t come until Friday the 28th, and even then it’s barely anything to get excited about.

We’ve got a river break here, sheltered and fairly consistent in terms of it being a spot that can work, but the winds and swell are just not playing ball for a long time. For a beginner-friendly spot, the setup is almost continuously blown out or just too small. The water temp is sitting at 65°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only easy thing about it.

The first faint glimmer is on Friday morning, the 28th of August. We get a little 3ft swell from the SW, with a short period of 7 seconds. The wind is light offshore from the ESE, which will keep it clean, and the combined energy is moderate (130). The comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” – that’s being generous. It’s the only thing on offer for days, but it’s small and not much power. For a beginner, this is maybe a splash-around session, but it’s not going to get the heart pumping.

After that, it’s back to poor conditions. The wind swings onshore or cross-off with very short-period, weak swell right through to the end of August and into the first week of September. There’s a big jump in size on Monday the 31st of August, with a 10ft cross-onshore swell from the W, but the wind is a strong breeze from the W at 25 mph, creating a messy, lumpy mess. That’s kite-surfing conditions, not paddle surfing. The energy is very strong (2206), but with that wind, you’d be a glutton for punishment on a surfboard.

The only other period that might raise an eyebrow is around the 7th of September. There’s a massive 15ft swell due on Monday morning with a very long period of 17 seconds. That’s a huge, powerful groundswell. But the wind is still cross-onshore from the WNW at 16 mph. The energy is extreme (10556), but the quality will be awful – huge, blown-out, dangerous. That’s strictly for experts, and even then, you’d be dodging a bullet. For a river break, that long-period swell might break straight and close out, making it a mission for anyone.

Overall, if you’re a paddler, this forecast is a dud. The first week is a write-off, and the second week offers only wild, messy, or dangerous conditions. For the dedicated surfer, maybe the light-offshore morning on the 28th is your best bet, but keep your expectations on the floor. This stretch tends to produce these kind of blank runs, so it’s not unusual, just disappointing.

Rusty.

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