Fishermans (Rhiw) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, pull up a seat. Rusty here. It’s been a tough stretch for surf around here, and this outlook is no different. I’m looking at the next sixteen days, and the honest truth is there’s barely a ripple worth paddling for. We’re looking at a long, dry spell with almost nothing on the table. Let’s get into it.

The First Week: September 7th to September 13th

From Monday the 7th right through to Sunday the 13th, it’s a write-off. The wind is howling from the wrong directions – a lot of onshore and cross-onshore junk – and the swell is either tiny or mangled. We get a few pulses of energy, like on Monday afternoon when the combined energy hits 144 (moderate), but with a 5ft onshore slop and a period of only 6 seconds, it’s just a washing machine. Thursday morning the 10th has a 5ft swell from the SW, but the onshore wind is 22 mph, making it a complete mess. There’s no way you’d want to be out there.

The only glimmer comes on Wednesday morning the 9th. The wind swings to a cross-offshore NW breeze at 16 mph, and there’s a clean 2ft swell from the WSW with a period of 8 seconds. It’s clean, but the combined energy is only 52 (weak). It’s surfable if you are absolutely desperate and have a longboard, but it’s far from good.

The Second Week: September 14th to September 22nd

This next week is only marginally better, but still nothing to write home about. The real standout, if you can call it that, comes on the morning of Tuesday the 15th. For a brief window, we get a clean 4ft swell from the W with a period of 5 seconds, and the wind is a light, cross-offshore NW breeze at 9 mph. The combined energy is 74 (weak), but it’s the most surfable looking wave in the whole forecast. It’s small, but it’s clean.

Then, on the morning of Thursday the 17th, we see a bigger bump. A 6ft swell from the SSW rolls in, with a period of 6 seconds and strong moderate cross-shore energy of 170 (moderate). The wind is cross-shore from the ESE at 12 mph, which will create some chop. This is for the more experienced crew – anything over 5ft gets a bit much for beginners with this kind of period. The afternoon cleans up slightly with a 5ft swell and a gentle cross-shore.

Towards the very end, on Monday the 21st, we get a bizarre little pulse. A 0.3ft swell from the W with a very long period of 13 seconds, and a strong offshore wind from the North at 25 mph. The water will be glassy, but with that tiny size, you’ll be scratching for anything. A long period groundswell like that would be magic at a point break, but here it’s just not enough push.

Honestly, the whole sixteen days is a flat, windy mess. Fishermans (Rhiw) is a reef that likes a solid SW groundswell, and we’re just not getting it. The water temp is sitting at 63°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for the time of year. For most of this, the setup looks more interesting for a kite than a paddle. Keep the board in the van, lads.

Rusty.

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