Crantock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at the charts for Crantock. I’ve got to be straight with you—this outlook is a bit of a wilderness stretch. We’re looking at a solid run of onshore slop and blown-out conditions for a long while. It’s one of those times where you’re better off waxing your board and just staring at the horizon, because there’s nothing to ride that’s worth your energy.

The pattern starts off with a whimper. Monday and Tuesday are looking pretty grim, with tiny, weak surf in the 0.7 ft to 2 ft range. The wind is cross-off but it doesn’t matter when there’s no swell to push around. The combined energy is weak, sitting under 100 (81). It’s a complete non-event. We see a little pulse of short-period swell on Thursday morning, still small at 1 ft, but the wind is up and messy, so it’s not doing us any favors. Don’t bother.

Then we move into a proper stretch of poor conditions. From Thursday afternoon through the first week of September, the swell builds, but the wind just ruins everything. We’re talking fresh cross-shore breezes, cross-on winds, and lumpy, cross-chop that will have you bouncing around like a cork. There’s some size on Friday, but it’s onshore and junky. The standouts here are not the waves but the wind speeds—constantly hitting 19 to 25 mph. This isn’t a surfing setup; honestly, this looks a lot more interesting for the kite surfers than for us paddle surfers. The energy starts to pick up, reading 706 and then 1080 on the 31st, but with that wind, it’s just messy, powerful whitewater. This run of onshore junk is pretty much a solid week of no-go.

The water temp is a touch warmer than normal for the time of year at 65°F, which is nice, but you won’t feel it while you’re getting blown off your board.

Now, for the one and only real blip on the radar. The following week, by the 7th of September, there’s a bit of hope on Monday with a cleaner cross-off wind, but the swell is small. Then things get interesting. Looking ahead to the 8th of September, there’s a serious pulse of long-period groundswell, with a period hitting 16 seconds and the swell jumping up to 12 ft. The energy reading is through the roof at 6719, which is very strong. The wind is cross-off and the waves should be clean. This is the one to watch for experienced surfers. At that size and period, Crantock—being a river mouth setup—could be a beast. It has the potential to be firing, but this is still a long way out, so treat it as promising but not certain. It’s not for the faint-hearted or beginners at all; this is big, powerful water. Before that, Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th have some rideable but uninspiring cross-on slop in the 4 ft to 5 ft range, but you’re fighting the chop.

So, in summary: the next week and a half are a write-off. There’s a huge window of nothing from now until the end of the first week of September. Keep your board in the car for the 8th, though. That might be the day.

Rusty out.

Read more