Ilbaritz - Edouard VII Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, and I gotta be straight with ya – the next couple of weeks at Ilbaritz - Edouard VII are looking pretty grim for a proper paddle. We've got a long stretch of small, weak, and messy surf ahead. The first real pulse of size doesn't show up until over a week away, so we're looking at a big gap of average to poor conditions.

For the first week, from Tuesday the 14th right through to around Thursday the 24th, the swell is tiny. We're talking knee-high dribble at best, mostly around 1 ft to 2 ft. The energy is weak, with combined energy figures sitting in the low double digits (between 8 and 52). The wind is a real issue too, mostly cross, cross-on, or onshore, making it choppy and messy. There's a brief moment on the morning of the 20th with a gentle offshore breeze from the ENE, but even then the swell is only 2 ft. It's just not worth the effort.

Now, the story changes a little around Friday the 24th. We get a pulse of groundswell from the NW with a very long 14-second period, pushing the swell to 2 ft and the combined energy up to 316. The wind is light and cross-shore, so it'll be clean. It's a tiny window and the forecast is marginal. It's a tease of what's to come, but not a standout.

The real event, if you can call it that, is on Saturday the 25th of July. Overnight, a big NW swell kicks in, hitting 7 ft in the morning with a moderate 11-second period. The combined energy jumps to 1018, which is a solid wall of power. Now, the problem is the wind is onshore from the W at 12 mph, which will ruin the quality. At 7 ft, that's big enough to be expert-only, especially with onshore wind making it lumpy and unpredictable. The afternoon is similar, with 7 ft swell and onshore wind. The following morning, the 26th, drops to 5 ft, but still onshore. This is a classic case of a lot of water but no quality. It's more likely to be a kite surfer's session than a surfer's.

The best chance for a decent surf comes right at the tail end of the forecast. On the morning of Tuesday the 28th, we have 5 ft of NW swell (9-second period) with glassy conditions from a light SW wind. The combined energy is 382. That's a moderate amount of power and the cleanest conditions we've seen. It's a good window for an intermediate surfer. Then, on the morning of the 29th, we get another glassy session with 4 ft of the same quality NW swell. These two mornings are the only times the stars align, and even then the forecast is only marginal.

So, to wrap it up: there's a whole lot of nothing for the first ten days, then a big, messy, expert-only swell, and finally a couple of clean, fun-sized mornings at the very end of the outlook. The water temp is a crazy 77°, which is about 9° warmer than normal – very unusual, don't need a wetsuit at all.

If you're keen, pencil in the 28th or 29th of July for a morning session. The rest of the time, save your energy.

Rusty.

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