Antibes - Fort Carre Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, grab a coffee, listen up. Rusty here.

To be brutally honest, this 16-day window for the Antibes area is a bit of a flat-spell challenge. The only named spot we have to work with is a tricky little reef setup called Antibes - Fort Carre. It doesn't break often, it's an inconsistent wave on its best day, and looking at the whole run, the numbers just aren't there to get excited about.

The entire first week is a write-off. From Sunday the 23rd right through to Friday the 28th, the "poor surf conditions" tag follows us around. We’re looking at tiny dribble, the biggest reading is a paltry 3 ft on Thursday morning the 27th from the east, but that's short period (5 secs) and onshore wind which kills any chance of a shape. The combined wave energy is pathetic at best, hitting a meagre 37 (weak energy) on that Thursday morning, but it's cross-onshore and messy.

We finally get a clean window on Friday morning the 28th. The wind swings offshore from the WSW (12 mph), and that is a major positive – it’ll clean things up nicely. But the swell? Still tiny at 2 ft from the south, period only 5 seconds. The energy is a weak 23. It’s gonna be a knee-high cleanup session for a sucker, if you can find a peak.

Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th offer some cleaner windows with offshore or cross-off winds, but the swell is almost non-existent. Saturday has zero swell, and Sunday only manages a 2 ft from the SW with a weak 27 energy reading. It’s not surf.

The second week is more of the same story. From Monday the 31st of August right through to Sunday the 7th of September, the patterns repeat. Tiny waves, mostly under 2 ft, with periods usually around 3 to 6 seconds. Energy readings rarely break into double digits. We see glassy mornings on the 1st and 3rd of September, but with 0.7 ft and 1.0 ft of swell, you’d be floating, not surfing.

The most notable thing is the water temperature. At the start of the period, it's a balmy 82°F with a massive anomaly of 8°F warmer than usual – that’s really unusual for the time of year. It feels like a bath. Still won't make the waves bigger though.

Honestly, there is no standout session here. Not one. If you are desperate for a paddle on a longboard in gutless, knee-high slop, you could try a glassy morning around the 4th or 5th of September, but don't expect a proper ride. If the wind stays strong from the WSW like on the 28th of August, this exposed reef might look more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer. It’s a long, quiet stretch.

- Rusty

Read more