Etretat Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you—this forecast for our stretch of coast is a tough one. We’re looking at a whole lot of flat, bumpy, or just plain messy conditions over the next couple of weeks. Don't get your hopes up for any heroics, but let’s walk through it day by day.

The immediate future, from today through next Tuesday, is basically a write-off. There's very little energy in the water, and what’s there is junky. The swell is tiny, and the winds are mostly onshore or just messy. The water is running about 69°, which is a solid few degrees warmer than usual for this time of year, so at least it'll be comfortable just floating around on a board.

We finally get a glimmer of something around Wednesday the 26th. There’s a small pulse of west swell, around 3ft, with a short period of 7 seconds. The energy is weak, only 80, but what makes it interesting is a gentle offshore SW wind. It’ll be clean, just really small and weak. This is still pretty poor, but at least the water won't be all chopped up. There's another small window on Thursday the 27th, but it’s smaller again and the wind is more on it.

The next week, around the 29th and 30th, we finally see some size. A stronger push of WNW swell is coming, jumping up to 7ft on Saturday the 29th, with the combined energy reading 403, which is moderate. But the period is a short, crumbly 7 seconds, so it will lack punch. The winds are strong offshore, SW at 45 km/h, which will make it blowy and hard to paddle into, even if the faces are clean. Sunday the 30th still has some energy with 4ft to 5ft, but it’s not looking much better.

There’s a bit more size on Monday the 31st, with the swell around 6ft to 6ft, but the quality is still questionable. The period is short and the wind is on it. It’s the kind of day where you might get some lumpy, wind-blown waves if you’re desperate. By the start of September, it’s all fading away again, with tiny junky surf and onshore breezes.

Honestly, for a spot like Etretat (Normandy), this is a real bleak stretch. The only thing that might offer a glimmer of hope is the late August window, and even that is marginal. If you’re a beginner, the 7ft days are probably too much, and the quality is just not there. For the experienced crew, there might be a few salvageable, clean waves in the mix, but nothing worth getting excited about. It's a bad run, but that's how it goes sometimes.

Rusty.

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