Fistral-North Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about Fistral-North right now. It’s a bit quiet to start, with a long stretch of poor conditions, but there’s some cleaner, punchier swell lurking in the back half of this 16-day window. You just gotta be patient and pick your moments.

Right now, from Tuesday the 18th right through to Sunday the 24th, the surf is mostly junk. Tuesday morning the 18th has a 5ft west-northwest swell with a short 6-second period, but the west-northwest wind at 16 mph is cross-on and choppy, spoiling it. That pattern holds. On Thursday the 20th, the swell picks up to 7ft from the west at 9 seconds, but the onshore wind chops it all up. Not worth the paddle.

The one flicker of hope in this flat spell is Saturday morning the 22nd. The wind turns offshore from the east-southeast at 9 mph, glassy and clean. But the swell is tiny, just 2ft out of the west at 9 seconds, with combined swell energy a weak 50. You’ll find clean, tiny ankle-biters, but crowds won’t be an issue.

Then we see a gap of clean but small conditions until Tuesday the 25th of August. That morning brings a fresh offshore SSE wind at 19 mph, with 4ft of west swell at a 10-second period, combined swell energy of 338 – moderate push. The afternoon bumps up slightly to 5ft west swell at 9 seconds, energy 399. That’s the first real clean window with some size. It’s marginal, but for those itching, this is your first decent chance.

Conditions then get messy again until the end of the month. Saturday the 30th of August morning offers 5ft of northwest swell at 8 seconds, with a light south wind at 6 mph cross-off, clean but ordinary. Combined energy is 232.

The absolute standout is Monday the 31st of August afternoon. Swell jumps to 8ft from the southwest at an 8-second period, with combined energy of 721 – strong. The wind is south-southwest at 13 mph, cross-off and clean. That’s the session to aim for: solid, clean southwest swell with real power. It’s big for sure, so only experts should be out there, and expect crowds. The best conditions of the whole 16 days right there.

That southwest swell holds into Tuesday the 1st of September morning with 8ft west swell at 10 seconds, energy 1275 – strong – but the cross-shore wind and chop make it less clean. The afternoon of the 1st is cleaner with a cross-off breeze and 8ft west swell at 10 seconds, energy 1115, but still marginal.

Water temp is just about average for the time of year, nothing worth writing home about – your usual 3/2 wetsuit is fine.

So, in short: the first week is poor. Tuesday the 25th of August gives you the first clean small session. But the big call to action is Monday the 31st of August afternoon – that’s the one to circle on the calendar for a proper, clean, standout session at Fistral-North.

Rusty.

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