Fishermans (Rhiw) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

To be honest, straight out of the gate, it’s a bit of a rough start. We’ve got a long stretch of poor conditions ahead. The first real glimmer of anything worthwhile doesn’t show up until Monday the 7th of September, and even then it’s marginal. The opening days are ruled by strong onshore and cross-onshore winds, choppy messy surf, and weak, short-period swell. Not a lot to get excited about.

Let’s talk about the water first. At Fishermans (Rhiw), the water temperature is sitting at 64°F with a positive anomaly of 3°F, so it’s a touch warmer than usual for this time of year. That’s a nice little bonus if you’re suiting up.

The first bit of hope comes on Monday the 7th of September. The morning has a clean, cross-off wind, and while the swell is only 3 ft from the WSW, the period jumps to a very long 14 seconds. That’s proper groundswell energy. The combined energy is moderate (296). The catch is the forecast is marginal, and the break is a reef that’s fairly exposed to the SW and rarely breaks. This is a spot that needs a lot of things to line up, so this is a very delicate, promising but not guaranteed window. The wind is light, so it’ll be clean, but the size is small.

After that, we get a few more days of rough weather and onshore winds, but the outlook improves again heading into the second week. The standout to circle on your calendar is Monday the 14th of September. The morning session shows a 5 ft swell from the SW, with a period of 9 seconds, and clean, cross-off winds from the east. The combined energy is strong (343). The forecast says “expect good surf conditions.” This is the best window we’ve got. The swell direction matches the optimum SW direction, and the conditions are clean. The only thing to keep in mind is that the spot is a reef, so if the swell pushes over 7 ft, it becomes an expert-only affair. At 5 ft, it’s still accessible for confident intermediates. The wind is light, so the surface will be smooth.

The rest of the period is mostly small and average, with the occasional clean morning but very little power. From the 11th onwards, we see some clean cross-off mornings, but the swell is tiny and weak. It’s not a total write-off, but you’ll be chasing knee-high dribble.

So, to sum it up: the best bet is Monday the 14th of September morning. The other possible window is the marginal, long-period groundswell on Monday the 7th, but that’s a real gamble. The rest of the time, it’s either too windy, too small, or too messy to bother.

Rusty.

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