Eastbourne Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Rusty here. Alright, let’s be straight with you – looking at Eastbourne over this 16-day stretch, it's a bit of a quiet picture. The swell energy is barely registering most of the time, and the surf forecast scores are consistently low, so we’ve got a long dry spell ahead. The waves are just not showing up with any real power or size to get excited about. This isn't one of those windows where we get a sudden pulse of swell; it’s going to be a waiting game. Let’s walk through it day by day.

Starting from Saturday, August 8th, the water temp is sitting at 69°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – about 7° above average. That’s very unusual, so you won’t need a thick wetsuit, but unfortunately the surf won’t keep you warm from the inside either. The swell is tiny at 0.3 ft from the west, with a combined energy of just (2), and the wind is onshore from the southeast. It’s dead flat and messy. Not a wave worth paddling for.

That same tiny, flat pattern continues through Sunday the 9th and into the week. On Sunday morning, it’s 0.3 ft with a short period of 7 seconds and a cross-onshore breeze – just small, bumpy junk. Sunday afternoon the wind swings to the west-southwest at 16 mph, which is cross-offshore, but there’s zero swell on offer. Monday the 10th gives us a little 1 ft wave at best, but with a period of only 4 seconds and clean cross-off wind, it’s barely a ripple. The energy is still weak at (3) to (6). Honestly, not worth suiting up for.

Tuesday the 11th through Thursday the 14th sees a slight bump in wind, but it’s all onshore and messy. By Tuesday, the swell height hits 2 ft from the east, but with a period of just 3 seconds and a fresh cross-onshore wind at 19 mph, it’s lumpy, choppy, and unrideable. The energy climbs to (9), but that’s all from wind chop, not proper swell. Wednesday is more of the same, and Thursday offers a sliver of offshore wind from the west-northwest at 9 mph on the morning of the 14th, with a 0.7 ft swell and a period of 6 seconds. The energy is (8), but it’s still too small to bother with. Afternoon wind picks up again.

There is a brief, notable moment on Saturday morning, August 15th, when the wind goes glassy from the east-southeast at just 3 mph. The swell is still tiny at 0.3 ft with a period of 8 seconds and energy at (5). It’s glassy and clean, but with no real swell, it’s a lake out there. By Sunday the 16th, we get another glassy morning with calm winds, but again – 0.3 ft from the southwest. Beautiful conditions, zero waves.

From Monday the 17th through to the end of the forecast on Sunday the 23rd, the story doesn’t change much. Most days show zero swell or tiny 0.3 ft to 1 ft waves with periods under 10 seconds. There’s a small uptick on the morning of Friday the 22nd with a 3 ft swell from the southwest, a period of 5 seconds, and energy at (59), but the wind is cross-offshore from the west-northwest at 9 mph. That’s the biggest pulse of the whole period, but with that short period it’s going to be weak and mushy. Still not enough to call it a surf session.

Overall, there are no good surf options in this 16-day window for Eastbourne. It’s a prolonged flat spell. For an area that’s sheltered and inconsistent by nature, this kind of run is pretty normal – the forecasts can change, but right now, there’s nothing on offer. If you’re really keen, you’d be better off with a kite, because the windier days over 16 mph would be more fun for that than trying to paddle.

Rusty.

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