Grim Ness Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Orkney Islands, UK)

Forecast
- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
Maps
Live
Weather State
Spot Information

Grim Ness Surf Guide

Grim Ness in Orkney is an exposed break. that has pretty consitent surf and can work at any time of the year. Ideal winds are from the south with some shelter here from southeast winds. Groundswells and windswells are equally likely and the best swell direction is from the northeast.. It very rarely gets crowded here.

Grim Ness Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Reef	4	fairly consistent	8.5°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Grim Ness:

The best conditions reported for surf at Grim Ness occur when a Northeast swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the West-southwest.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf Grim Ness (for consistent clean waves)?

marchBest Season: autumn

The best time of year for surfing Grim Ness with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Autumn and most often the month of March. Clean surfable waves are typically found 9% of the time in March while 18% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 73% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

18%

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

73%

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore Grim Ness Location Map

Interactive Grim Ness surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The closest passenger airport to Grim Ness is Kirkwall Airport (KOI) in Scotland, 15 km (9 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Grim Ness is Wick Airport (WIC) in U.k., 42 km (26 miles) away.

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

Grim Ness Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 09:44 Local Time

m, °C	Wednesday 06
ft, °F	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM
Wave (m)	N	N	N	N
Period (s)	9	9	9	9
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	off	cross- off	cross	cross

Tides at Grim Ness

Current tide and informaton

For Grim Ness, 0 km from Grim Ness.

Next High Water: 03:09pm | 2.1m

Next Low Water: 08:40pm | 0.87m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

Grim Ness Sea Temperature

Very cold water temperature (8.5 °C) at Grim Ness. Despite the sunshine, even with a thick winter wetsuit, neoprene hood, gloves and boots it will be difficult to stay comfortable in the sea for long today.

Today, many surfers would wear a winter wetsuit, a neoprene hood, gloves and boots.