Crantock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at the next couple of weeks down at the Crantock rivermouth. To be honest, it’s a bit of a tale of two weeks. The first week is pretty much a write-off, with onshore winds and lumpy, messy waves ruling the roost. There’s some size at times, but it’s all over the place. Then, we get a shift in the wind for the back half of the period, and things start to clean up, but the swell drops right out. We’re hunting for the windows here.

We kick things off this Friday, the 4th, and it’s rough. The water’s sitting at 64°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, which is nice for the skin, but that’s the only positive. We’ve got a fresh 19 mph WNW breeze blowing straight on, and 7ft of lumpy W swell. It’s poor, plain and simple. The energy’s moderate at 691, but it’s wasted. Saturday’s not much better, a bit smaller at 5ft, but the wind swings light cross-onshore, so it’s still not doing us any favours.

Sunday the 6th looks like we might finally get a break, but there’s no real swell to speak of. Just 2ft with a light offshore breeze. It’s clean, but you’d be on a longboard and scratching for anything. The energy is weak at 85, so it’s a flat spell more than anything. That carries through into the start of the new week until we get a pulse of swell mid-week.

Monday the 7th brings a big push of energy, with the combined reading jumping to 1465, which is strong. The swell jumps to 7ft at a long 13 seconds. But the wind is straight onshore and cranking at 16-19 mph. It’ll be a messy, blown-out wall of whitewater. This is a case where the size might get the heart racing, but the conditions will smash it. Given the size and the wind, this is looking more interesting for the kite crew than for paddling.

The rest of that first week continues in the same vein – fresh cross-onshore winds, lumpy conditions, and not a clean wave to be found. There’s another push of 8ft on Tuesday the 8th, but again it’s onshore and junk. We finally see the wind start to ease off on Friday the 11th, but by then the swell is down to 5ft and it’s still a bit messy.

We get a proper gap here. From around the 6th through to the 16th, there’s nothing that’s worth getting out of bed for. The conditions are either blown out or there’s just no swell. It’s a long, barren run.

Then, finally, on Thursday the 17th, we get a small window. The wind goes light and cross-offshore out of the ESE, which will make it glassy and clean. The swell is small, 3ft from the west with a long 10 second period. The energy is weak at 186, and the comment says it’s just “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” It’s the best on offer, but you’d be a keen bean to make the most of it. It’s a clean, small day for the log.

The following day, Friday the 18th, sees a bump in size to 6ft, but it’s from the WNW with a short 6 second period. The wind is cross-offshore, which will keep it clean, but that short period will see it closing out and lacking push. It’s surfable, but not great. After that, we fade out again into the 19th with tiny waves.

So, truth be told, there’s no real standout in this 16-day forecast. If you’re desperate, the cleanest waves will be on the morning of the 17th. It’s not the surf we want, but it’s all we’ve got. With the wind finally turning offshore, it tends not to stay poor for long, and a forecast can change. Keep an eye on it.

Rusty

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