Crantock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this 16-day window for Crantock is a tough one to call. The short of it is that we’ve got a long stretch of small, messy, or badly wind-affected surf, and the only real standout is a full week away, so patience is the name of the game.

Right now, the water temp is sitting at 65°F which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, a nice little bonus for the skin.

The first recommendation doesn’t come until Saturday, the 8th of August. That’s a full 10 days of waiting from the start of the period. The days before that are a write-off – tiny waves, poor winds, and awful conditions. From Wednesday the 29th of July right through to Friday the 7th of August, the surf is flat or blown out, with a few pulses of swell but all ruined by onshore or cross-onshore winds. Honestly, not worth paddling out for.

The one true standout is Saturday morning, the 8th of August. We’ve got a 6ft swell rolling in from the west, with a period of 8 seconds. The combined energy of the swell is a solid 489 (moderate wave energy), and the wind is going to be glassy – dead calm, from the south-southwest. That’s the kind of clean, calm surface you dream of. The waves will be a bit on the beefy side, so it’s not for beginners, but for anyone with a bit of experience, this is the pick of the entire forecast. The swell direction matches the guidance optimum, which is west, so the bank should line up nicely.

The afternoon of the same day sees the drops a bit to 6ft, but the wind switches to a cross-shore from the north-northeast, which will still be ridable, but not as perfect as the glassy morning.

After that, Sunday the 9th of August offers a 4ft west swell, with a light cross-offshore wind from the east-northeast in the morning. It’s clean and surfable, with combined energy of 169 (moderate), but it’s a step down from the glassy Saturday. Crowds are often a thing at Crantock, so on a clean weekend, expect it to be busy.

The following week (Monday the 10th through Thursday the 13th) is back to small, bumpy, or wind-chopped conditions. Nothing worth getting excited about. The swell is there, but the wind is either cross-on or onshore, and the periods are short, so the waves will be weak and messy.

So, to wrap it up: if you can wait, the glassy Saturday morning of the 8th of August is your golden ticket. Everything else is a struggle or a bust. Don’t hold your breath for the first ten days.

Rusty

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