Etretat Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, I've checked all the numbers and I gotta tell ya, there ain't a single session worth paddling out for over the next sixteen days. Not one. The surf is tiny, the wind is often sloppy or straight onshore, and the energy never gets out of the weak zone. It's a flat spell, plain and simple. Etretat just isn't getting any love from the ocean right now.

Monday 27 July – No go. The morning shows poor surf conditions with no wave height recorded and 0 combined energy. The west-northwest cross-off breeze is about 12 mph, but without any waves it's just a windy day at a flat reef. The afternoon has a tiny 3 ft of WNW swell at 7 seconds, but the energy is weak at 61. The cross-off wind drops a little, but there's still no proper shape.

Tuesday 28 July – Slight improvement on paper, but not really. The morning has 2 ft from the west at a short 6-second period, weak energy at 15, but the wind is offshore from the southwest at about 3 mph giving glassy clean conditions. That would be nice if there were any power behind it. The afternoon turns choppy with a cross-onshore breeze building.

Wednesday 29 July – The swell drops to near nothing. Morning has a tiny 0.3 ft, weak energy of just 2. Offshore wind from the southwest keeps the surface clean, but it's not surfable. Wednesday afternoon stays messy.

Thursday 30 July – Still tiny. 0.3 ft of west swell with a slightly longer period of 9 seconds but only 1 to 2 combined energy. The wind stays cross-off, clean, but it's flat.

Friday 31 July – Morning is cloudy and flat with no wave height recorded and 0 energy. The afternoon has 1.0 ft of west swell at 7 seconds with weak energy at 8. Still not worth a splash.

Saturday 1 August – A little bump with 2 ft of WNW swell at a short 5-second period and combined energy at 31. The wind is cross-on from the north-northwest at about 9 mph making the surface choppy. Not clean, not fun.

Sunday 2 August – Onshore winds dominate. The afternoon has a weird 3 ft from the north-northeast at 4 seconds with 33 energy, but the wind is onshore at about 19 mph. That's messy and no good.

Monday 3 August to Wednesday 5 August – These days hover around 1.0 ft to 2 ft of swell with energy between 22 and 71. Wednesday afternoon has a slight bump to 2 ft from the west at 8 seconds and energy at 71, but still poor surf conditions across the board. A couple of morning windows have offshore wind, especially Wednesday with a light SW offshore at about 9 mph and clean conditions. But with such minimal swell, there's nothing to ride.

Thursday 6 August – The wind gets strong. Morning shows a fresh offshore from the west-southwest at about 22 mph with 2 ft of west swell and 54 energy. The surface will be blown out and choppy, not clean despite the offshore direction.

Friday 7 August to Saturday 8 August – Back to small. The afternoon on Saturday 8 August has 1 ft of WNW swell at 8 seconds with 19 energy and cross-on winds. Not a highlight.

Sunday 9 August – The morning is glassy with an east wind at about 3 mph but just 1.0 ft from the west at 8 seconds and 10 energy. In the afternoon, the swell jumps to 8 ft from the west at 7 seconds with a strong combined energy of 562, but the wind is cross-on at about 12 mph. That's a big, lumpy, onshore mess. The period is short, so it's weak close-out surf. Not a session for the inexperienced, but more for kite surfing maybe than paddle surfing given the strong onshore component.

Monday 10 August to Tuesday 11 August – Monday morning has 3 ft of WNW swell at 7 seconds with 91 energy and a moderate offshore from the west-southwest at about 16 mph, clean but still poor surf conditions. Tuesday is small again at 1.0 ft.

So there you have it. A long run of flat and weak conditions with a single pulse on Sunday 9 August that turns messy. This kind of blank run is not unusual for the area, but it's still disappointing. Forecasts can change, but right now there's nothing to chase.

Rusty.

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