Etretat Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks at Etretat are lookin’ pretty bleak. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak, and often messy conditions ahead. There’s not a single standout session in the bunch, so we’re playing the waiting game. The first week is especially grim, with barely a ripple worth paddling for, and the second week doesn’t offer any real hope either. It’s a solid run of flat or near-flat days, so don’t be holding your breath.

Let’s break it down. We kick off Monday the 14th with a tiny 2ft W swell (67 combined energy) and a gentle offshore breeze, which makes for clean faces, but there’s just no power behind it. It’s surfable if you’re desperate for a splash, but it’s ordinary at best. Tuesday the 15th gets even smaller, with a 1ft WNW swell and a cross-offshore wind, but it’s just too weak to get excited about. Wednesday through to Saturday are more of the same – tiny waves and poor surf quality. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing wild.

Then on Thursday the 17th, we see a spike – a 6ft W swell rolls in, but it’s short period at 6 seconds and the combined energy is a moderate 269. That’s a bit of a lumpy, disorganised mess. The wind is cross-off, so it’s clean, but that short period means it’ll be closing out quickly. For beginners, anything over 5ft can be a handful, so this is more of an intermediate-to-expert zone that day. Friday the 18th holds a 5ft WNW swell (155 combined energy) but again, short period and cross-off wind. Not a classic.

Sunday the 20th offers a 3ft WNW swell (69 combined energy) and a moderate offshore breeze – clean, but still small and weak. After that, we drop right back down to nothing. Monday the 21st has a glassy morning with a tiny 1ft W swell, but it’s a whisper. The rest of that week and into the next is all sub-3ft junk with onshore or cross-onshore winds, a lot of chop, and periods that are way too short. There’s a few days with no swell at all.

By the time we get to the 24th, we’ve got a 4ft N swell (122 combined energy) but it’s onshore from the NNE and short period, so it’s just messy and blown out. The 25th is similar. The 26th and 27th have a tiny 0.3ft W swell with a very long period (14 secs), but the wind is cross-onshore and it’s just not enough push. That long period will be too straight for the beach breaks anyway.

Honestly, the only window that even looks like a possibility is that Thursday the 17th with the 6ft W swell, but it’s not clean enough and the period is rubbish. If you’re a kite surfer, that afternoon might be more your speed with the cross-off wind and some bumpy energy, but for a paddle surfer, it’s a hard pass.

It’s a tough run, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Forecasts can change, so keep an eye out, but right now, it’s a long wait for a decent wave.

Rusty.

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