Croyde Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, this is Rusty, and I'm looking at the only game in town for the next couple of weeks: Croyde.

Right out of the gate, I gotta be straight with you – it's a grim picture. The water's feeling much warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting at 66°F, which is a solid 4°F above average. That's a notable little anomaly, but it's not gonna help the surf.

The problem here is that while we've got some energy pushing in, the wind is just plain wrong. For the first week, from Tuesday the 18th right through to the end of the month, it's a frustrating mix of onshore and cross-onshore winds from the west and northwest. We see a brief flicker of hope on Friday the 21st morning – a clean, cross-offshore breeze from the northeast with a tiny 2ft west swell, but it's a weak one. The combined energy is a measly 92, so it's "surfable" but hardly worth dragging the wetsuit on for. Saturday the 22nd morning has a clean offshore wind from the east, but the swell is even smaller at 1ft with a weak energy reading of 54.

The real story is the wind. We've got moderate to strong breezes, even a near gale on the 30th, just tearing the surface up. The swell energy does climb a bit – we see 315 on Thursday the 20th morning, and a few days in the 100-200 range, but it's all junk. The period is short, mostly 7-9 seconds, meaning weak, disorganized waves. Any time we get a bit of size, like 6ft, it's lumpy and choppy.

Now, if you look into the first week of September, there's a big spike on Tuesday the 1st. Swell height jumps to 8ft from the west-southwest, and the combined energy hits 845. That's a solid amount of power. But before you get excited, the wind is still a cross-onshore mess from the north-northwest, and it's lumpy. 8ft with that kind of wind is not a pretty sight – it's a wall of chop. This is strictly for the experts, and even then, it's a battle. Given the persistent cross-onshore wind and exposed beach setup, this period looks more interesting for the kite surfers than anyone with a paddle.

Honestly, there's no standout session here. The whole 16-day window is a write-off for quality surf. The best you can hope for is a clean, small wave on a couple of mornings, but it's not worth planning around.

Rusty.

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