Dawlish Warren Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s have a look at what Dawlish Warren’s got cookin’ for us over the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you – it’s a pretty bleak picture for a while. We’re looking at a long, dry spell of no real surf to speak of until the back end of the month. The first sniff of anything worthwhile doesn’t show up until the morning of Wednesday the 23rd of September, and even then it’s pretty ordinary.

Before that, from now right through to the 22nd, it’s a whole lot of nothing. Swell heights are tiny, under 3 ft, with periods that are all over the shop and combined wave energy that’s mostly in the low double digits or even scraping zero. The winds are all over the shop too, mostly cross or cross-off, but the lack of any proper energy means it’s just flat. There’s a few clean mornings in there, like the 16th and 20th, with offshore or cross-off breezes, but with wave heights at 0.3 ft and energy figures like 3 (weak), you’d be better off taking a long walk on the beach. Not a single session is worth paddling out for.

Then, on the morning of Wednesday the 23rd, things finally tick over. We get a pulse of swell coming in from the SSW at 4 ft with a 6-second period. The combined energy jumps to 101 (moderate wave energy), which is the first sign of life we’ve seen. The wind is a glassy offshore from the NNW at 3 mph – that’s about as clean as it gets. The waves are surfable, but it’s still just “ordinary conditions”. Because Dawlish Warren is a sheltered, inconsistent spot, this is the best on offer, and it’s the standout of the whole outlook. The water temp is going to be about average for the time of year, nothing unusual to report there. Then on the morning of Friday the 25th, we get another little bump from the SSW at 5 ft, period 5 seconds, energy at 113 (moderate wave energy) and a glassy, offshore wind from the ENE at 3 mph. That one is also clean and surfable, but again, it’s an inconsistent spot, so don’t expect magic walls. That’s your two standouts – the 23rd and 25th mornings. The afternoon on the 25th gets a bit messy with onshore wind and the swell pushes to 5 ft, which might be a touch much for beginners anyway, but with the onshore it’s not great.

All in all, it’s a long wait with a very small window. The forecasts can change, and for an inconsistent spot like Dawlish, it tends not to stay this quiet forever, but this 16-day run is mostly a blank. Keep an eye on those last few days of September.

Rusty

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