Crantock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Crantock’s got cooking for us over the next couple of weeks. Gotta be straight with you, it’s a slow start and a long wait, but the end of the run could make it all worthwhile if you’ve got the patience.

Right now and through the end of the first week, it’s pretty bleak. We’ve got a mix of cross-shore and onshore winds, lumpy chop, and just messy conditions. The swell’s hanging around between 3ft and 7ft from the west, but with short periods and a lot of wind, it’s just not coming together. The water’s running at 65°, which is much warmer than usual for this time of year, so at least you won’t freeze while you’re getting nothing. The combined swell energy sits mostly in the moderate range (around 200 to 535), but it’s all wasted on poor surf. I wouldn’t bother paddling out from Thursday the 10th right through to Monday the 14th of September – it’s just a write-off.

We get a little pulse of longer-period swell on Sunday the 13th and Tuesday the 15th, with some 10 and 11-second intervals, but the wind is still cross-onshore or onshore, so the quality is shot. Wind speeds are fresh, 9 to 19 mph, and the chop is real. The energy climbs up near 450-535 but the surface is just too messy.

Then comes a real gap. From around Wednesday the 16th into the following week, the swell drops off and we get small, weak surf. The combined energy plummets into the low 100s – 113 on the 17th, 152 on the 20th – and the wind stays ugly. This stretch from the 16th to the 22nd of September is a blank run. If you’re not seeing anything worth a wetsuit, you’re not wrong.

Now, if you’ve been waiting, the standout window shows up on Monday the 23rd of September. We’ve got a clean, offshore wind from the southeast at 6 mph, and the swell bumps up to 8ft from the west. That’s a bit on the bigger side – more for the experienced crew – but the wind is light and clean. The combined energy hits 689, which is solid moderate to strong energy. This is the first real good look of the forecast.

But the true gem is Tuesday the 24th of September. That’s the pick of the whole run. We’ve got 10ft swell from the west, blowing in with a light east-northeasterly cross-offshore wind at 6 mph. Period is 10 seconds – solid groundswell. The energy is a massive 1462, which is strong. That’s a big, clean west swell at Crantock, and it’s going to be a good session for the guys who know what they’re doing. The wind stays clean through Wednesday the 25th with a 7ft west-northwest swell, offshore from the east-southeast at 16 mph and a long 12-second period. That’s another top-tier session for the more experienced surfers. Crowds are ‘often’ at Crantock, so expect company on the sandbanks when it’s this good.

After that, things settle back down quickly. Thursday the 26th still has some clean 5ft west-northwest swell, but the energy drops, and by Friday the 27th it’s getting ordinary again with short-period junk.

So, the call: wait it out, the first two weeks are a waste. The real shot is the 23rd and 24th of September – that’s your best window for clean, strong west swell. The 24th is the standout. But if you’re a beginner, 10ft is going to be a handful. The river mouth might offer a slightly smaller option, but the main peak is for the experienced.

Rusty.

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