Gwithian Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s happening on our shores over the next couple of weeks.

We’re looking at a pretty grim run, to be honest. The whole 16-day window is basically a write-off for any decent surf. There’s no standout day, no session to get excited about. The wind is mostly howling onshore, and even when it eases, the swell is just too weak or messy to make it worthwhile. There’s a long gap of poor conditions right from the start, all the way through to the first week of September, with nothing but onshore wind and lumpy, chopped-out waves.

For the first few days, from Saturday the 29th of August right through the following week, it’s a mess. On Saturday the 29th, we’ve got a 8ft SW swell on the morning, but it’s being thrashed by a 22 mph cross-on wind, making it ugly. The combined energy is moderate at 646, but it’s all blown out. The afternoon gets even worse – an 12ft beast with 28 mph onshore wind, energy up at 1938, but it’s just a washing machine. This is proper big, messy stuff – over 8ft, so experts only, and even then it’s not fun.

Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st are more of the same: onshore wind, lumpy conditions, and swells over 7ft. The water temperature is 64°, which is about normal for this time of year, anomaly of just 2°. Tuesday the 1st of September sees the swell drop to 4ft, but the wind is still cross-shore or cross-on, and the energy is weak at 202. It’s still not clean.

We get a tiny glimpse of hope on Sunday the 6th of September. The morning sees a 3ft W swell with a light S cross-off wind at 9 mph, and the energy is low at 143, but the conditions are described as clean. It’s surfable but very ordinary – a 1 out of 10 score. That’s the best we’ve got, and it’s barely a ripple. The afternoon is light cross-on again.

Monday the 7th of September morning has a bit more size at 6ft from the W, with a light NNE cross breeze, energy at 633. But it’s still only marginal, with a score of 1. The rest of that week is a mix of messy cross-shore wind and dropping swell.

By the end of the run, from Wednesday the 9th of September, the swell plummets. We get some offshore wind on the 9th – 4ft from the WNW with a 16 mph ESE offshore, but the period is a short 6 seconds, and the energy is tiny at 143. It’s clean but weak. After that, it’s just tiny, onshore slop, with energy as low as 39 on Thursday the 10th. The long period swell on the 13th of September – 2ft at 15 seconds – is a classic groundswell, but it’s being blown flat by strong onshore winds, so don’t even bother.

Bottom line: there’s nothing here for the next two weeks. The conditions are consistently poor, with strong winds and messy surf. The only trickle of clean but tiny waves on the 6th and 7th of September isn’t enough to get excited about. Sometimes it’s like this, and the forecasts can change, but right now, I’d give this one a miss. Hang up the wetsuit and wait for a better window.

Rusty.

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