Croyde Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking for Croyde over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be straight with you, it’s been a tough stretch and there’s a fair gap of nothing much to get excited about. The window starts looking like it might give us something to work with, but we’ve got to wade through some slop first.

Right from Tuesday the 18th of August, it’s a messy picture. We’ve got a 5ft swell from the west during the morning, but that northwest breeze at 12 mph is smashing it up, making it cross-on and choppy. The energy’s weak at 179, and with a short period of just 7 seconds, the waves are just poor conditions. It carries on like this through the week. Wednesday the 19th is onshore all day, and Thursday the 20th sees a jump in energy to 251, but again, the wind is all wrong. We get a 5ft west swell pushing through on Thursday morning, but with northwest winds at 15 mph creating cross-onshore chop, it’s not one for the log book.

Friday the 21st of August offers a tiny glimmer in the morning. A clean 2ft west swell appears with a gentle 9 mph cross-offshore breeze from the northeast. The energy is low at 63, and it’s small, but it’s surfable. It’s not going to be a classic, but for the desperate, it’s a paddle. Saturday the 22nd is even smaller. A 1ft swell from the west-southwest with a light 6 mph offshore breeze from the east. The period stretches out to 10 seconds, which gives it a bit of life, but with energy at 41, you’ll be scratching for something to ride. It’s clean, though.

Then we hit a real flat spell. From Sunday the 23rd right through to Monday the 31st, the swell barely breaks 2ft. There are some glassy moments—Tuesday the 25th sees a huge spike in energy to 1662 with a 8ft swell from the southwest, but the period is only 9 seconds and the winds, though cross-offshore, are fresh at 18 mph. The data flags it as marginal and questionable. For a true expert only, and even then, it’s going to be challenging with that wind. That’s a cleanup day if you’re not on it.

Wednesday the 26th of August afternoon is a standout for simply being serene. Glassy conditions with a light 3 mph breeze from the southwest. But the swell is a measly 3ft and the energy is only 83. You’ll get some ordinary, weak waves. A fun session for a longboard, but nothing special.

As we push into September, Tuesday the 1st is messy again with a 18 mph cross-onshore wind from the southwest, and a 6ft swell in the afternoon that is lumpy and choppy. The energy is moderate at 215, but the wind just ruins it. Wednesday the 2nd is a write-off with onshores and a weird 19-second period on a 0.7ft swell that has no power (73 energy). It won’t break properly at the beach.

For the best of the lot, if you’re really keen, Friday morning the 21st of August was clean and small, and Tuesday morning the 25th of August is the only time we see real size (8ft) and energy (1662), but that’s for experts only with tricky winds. The true standout for a quiet clean paddle is Wednesday afternoon the 26th of August: glassy, clean, 3ft from the west-southwest, period of 7 seconds. It’s not going to bowl, but it’s the only time you’ll get a truly relaxing surf.

The water on Tuesday the 18th is sitting at 66°F, which is 4°F warmer than normal for this time of year. That’s noticeably warm, a proper anomaly.

Crowds at Croyde? They are often there, so expect company even when the surf is small.

Rusty.

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