Ilbaritz - Edouard VII Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: this forecast window is a pretty flat and frustrating run for our stretch of coast. There’s some small wave energy knocking around, but the quality just isn’t there for a proper surf over the next couple of weeks. We’re looking at a long stretch of tiny, weak swells with mostly cross-onshore winds messing things up. You’ll want to keep the board in the car, but maybe don’t get your hopes up for anything memorable.

The pick of a very average bunch, if you can even call it that, is the tiny window on Sunday, August 2nd. Early in the morning, there’s a brief moment of glassy conditions with a small NW swell at around 2.3ft at Ilbaritz - Edouard VII. The combined energy is weak at 54, and the swell period is a short 6 seconds, so it’s not going to be powerful, but at least it’s clean. The water is sitting at a very unusual 76.5°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s a bit of a talking point. But honestly, that’s about as good as it gets, and it’s still just ordinary.

After that, we go into a proper dry spell. From August 3rd through the 8th, the swell just dies. We’re talking 1ft to 2.3ft with periods dropping to 4 seconds and winds swinging onshore and cross-onshore. The energy readings barely get into double digits – we’re down to 18 at one point – which tells you just how weak everything is. There’s nothing to get excited about, and the crowds, if anyone even bothers to paddle out, will likely be a non-issue given how poor it is.

There’s a slight nod to the morning of Sunday, August 9th, with another glassy spell and a 1.6ft WNW groundswell at 9 seconds. It’s clean, sure, and the energy is 50, but it’s still tiny. Then the 10th has a clean cross-offshore morning with a 1.3ft swell, but it’s just not enough to do anything with.

The second week is even more of a write-off. From the 11th to the 15th of August, the swell stays small, the winds are mostly onshore or cross-onshore and there’s even a period of rain showers with 16 mph winds on the 15th. The energy is weak, and the swell periods are all over the place, but never in the good range. The one thing I’ll say is that the 11th has a long-period NW swell at 11 seconds, but at 1ft, it’s not going to break anywhere properly. For a reef setup like this, you need the size and the direction to line up, and they just don’t here.

So, bottom line: there are no standout days in this 16-day window. It’s a flat spell, plain and simple. Keep the wetsuit on hold, check back later, and hopefully the ocean will sort itself out soon.

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