Croyde Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Grim one, folks. I’ve looked at the charts for the next couple of weeks and it’s a tale of constant onshores and messy, lumpy surf. Let me break it down for you.

The first solid window of surf arrives this Wednesday afternoon, the 2nd of September. We’ve got a 6ft WSW swell with a short, weak 7-second period, and 349 units of combined energy. But the wind is a cross-onshore 22 mph from the WSW, making it fresh and lumpy. It’s a full-on washout. The water is a very warm 66°F, a full 5°F above normal for this time of year, which is notable, but it won't save the conditions.

Thursday the 3rd stays on the wrong side of the wind. Mornings are 5ft with the same cross-on breeze, and the afternoons are slightly more energetic at 296 units, but still onshore and poor. It’s all closeouts and whitewater.

Friday the 4th sees the swell push up to 7ft in the morning (573 energy units), but it’s dead onshore from the WNW at 19 mph. That’s a lot of water being blown straight over, making for a complete mess. The afternoon drops to 6ft but it’s still onshore. Forget it.

We finally get a break from the wind on Saturday the 5th. The swell drops right down to 4ft in the morning and 3ft in the afternoon. The wind is light, and the afternoon has a cleaner 10-second period. But with only 164 units of energy, it’s weak and dribbly. Not worth the paddle.

Sunday the 6th is the only real glimmer of hope. A light 12 mph SE cross-offshore wind gives us clean conditions, and while the swell is tiny at 2ft, the energy is a weak 64 units. It’s gutless, but it’s the only clean surf in the whole run.

Then it turns properly grim. Monday the 7th sees a big jump in energy, hitting 861 units in the morning with 6ft, and then a solid 8ft with a longer 11-second period and 1324 energy units in the afternoon. But the wind is blowing 22 mph cross-onshore, making it huge, lumpy and blown-out. This is big and ugly; only for the kamikaze crew, and honestly, they’re not getting much.

The wind stays onshore all through the following week. Tuesday the 8th has 8ft onshore. Wednesday and Thursday hover around 7ft and 6ft with cross-on winds. It’s all the same story: poor surf, choppy conditions, and no quality.

There’s a serious drop in swell over the weekend of the 12th and 13th, down to 3ft, but the wind stays onshore and cross-on, so it’s still messy.

The very end of the run, from the 14th onwards, is smaller again, but the wind strengthens. We’re looking at strong breezes and near-gale conditions, with tiny 2ft swells blown to bits. It’s dead.

Honestly, if you’re desperate, Sunday the 6th is your only shot at a clean wave, but even that’s a knee-high dribbler. The big swell days from the 7th to the 10th have the size but the wind ruins every single one of them. It’s one of those stretches where the North Devon points are just going to be wind-blown and messy. There’s no point getting excited about any of this; it’s all onshore mush.

Signing off,

Rusty.

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