Kennack Sands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for Kennack Sands over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s a pretty grim run for Kennack Sands. The whole 16-day window is essentially a write-off for any decent surf. There’s no swell to speak of, and what little does show up is tiny and weak. You’re looking at a long gap of poor conditions from the start right through to the end. The first glimmer of anything comes on the 28th of August, but it’s barely worth mentioning.

Friday the 28th of August morning offers the best of a bad lot, and that’s not saying much. You’ve got a tiny 2 ft swell from the SSW, but it’s short-period windswell at 6 seconds, so no real punch. The water temp is 65°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. The wind is cross-off from the WSW at 16 mph, which will keep things clean, but the combined energy is only 22 – that’s weak. It’s really just a knee-high dribble. The afternoon gets worse with the wind picking up to 22 mph.

From there, it’s all downhill. Most days show zero swell or waves too small to ride, and the wind is either cross, cross-off, or howling onshore. A few mornings, like the 31st of August and 1st of September, have clean conditions with offshore or light winds, but the swell is basically flat – 0.3 ft or 0.7 ft. The 1st of September morning has a long-period 18-second groundswell from the south, but it’s only 0.3 ft high and the energy is just 6 – that’s barely a ripple. It’d be a glassy pond, not a surf.

The second week is more of the same. Tiny pulses of swell from the SSW, all under 2 ft, with clean but weak conditions. The 8th of September has some offshore wind and a 0.3 ft south swell at 11 seconds, but the combined energy is a pathetic 2. By the 10th of September, the swell direction swings to the ENE and E, but the period drops to 4 or 5 seconds and the heights are tiny. The last few days on the 11th and 12th of September are just windy and messy, with strong cross-shore winds and no surf.

Bottom line: don’t bother paddling out. The setup here is so weak that if you’re after any kind of thrill, this is more of a kite-surfing kind of spot with those winds, not a paddle-surfing one. Kennack Sands is an inconsistent, sheltered beginner spot at the best of times, and this forecast is a complete blank run. It happens. Forecasts can change, but right now there is nothing worth chasing.

- Rusty

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