Icelands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s check what’s happening at Icelands for the next couple weeks.

The forecast starts slow. Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th are showing clean waves but the quality is lacking—energy’s low (in the 500–900 range) and the cross-off winds are moderate. Not worth getting excited about. Things improve from Monday the 27th morning, when we get small but clean 3ft swell out of the SSE at 10 seconds under a light breeze. Still small, but the direction’s improving.

The real highlight runs from Wednesday the 29th afternoon through Friday the 1st of August. We see building SSW groundswell with periods from 14 to 19 seconds—that’s proper long-period energy. On Wednesday afternoon, 3ft at 14 seconds under glassy conditions, combined swell energy at 600—smooth and clean. Thursday the 30th brings 4ft at 18 seconds, glassy, energy at 921. By Friday the 31st, it’s 4ft at 16 seconds, glassy offshores, and energy hitting 1159—moderate groundswell with real punch. Saturday the 1st of August holds 5ft at 18 seconds, glassy, energy at 1379. That SSW direction is exactly what Icelands wants. These mornings are the pick of the forecast for experienced surfers.

Second standout is Sunday the 2nd of August morning with 4ft at 16 seconds, calm and glassy, energy 1283—pristine. Monday the 3rd morning goes to 5ft at 16 seconds, calm and glassy, energy 1470. That Monday morning is the ultimate session for advanced surfers. But Sunday afternoon the wind turns onshore and quality drops.

After that, Tuesday the 4th and Wednesday the 5th see swell staying 4–5ft but winds go cross or onshore, energy falling to 700–1200. Not worth it. Thursday the 6th morning has a window with 4ft at 13 seconds, glassy—clean but small. Friday the 7th sees a big surge with a 20-second period and energy up to 2098, but swell only 4–4ft. Saturday the 8th, though, brings a big 8ft SSW swell at 17 seconds under cross-off winds—moderate breeze but clean. That’s over 8ft, expert only, with energy an enormous 3353. Sunday the 9th holds 8ft at 16 seconds, again cross-off but moderate breeze—big and clean, experts only.

Crowds at Icelands are marked “often”, so expect company on the clean days. Water temp is about average for this time of year.

For beginners, any swell over 5ft is too much, so from the 1st of August onwards, watch out, especially the 3rd and 8th–9th when it’s 5ft to 8ft. For experienced crew, the window from 29th July to 3rd August morning is the real gem—clean, glassy, and consistent groundswell.

Signing off, Rusty.

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