Cassis - Plage de l'Arène Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get real about what’s on offer for the next couple of weeks. I’ve been staring at the charts for Cassis and the outlook is pretty grim, to be honest. We’re looking at a long stretch of flat or poor conditions, so don’t get your hopes up.

The first real chance of a wave isn’t until Sunday the 26th of July. Before that, it’s a write-off. Wednesday the 22nd through Saturday the 25th are all tiny, weak, and messy. You’ll be staring at a lake, not a surf break. The combined energy is in the low single digits or zero – that’s how flat it is.

Now, Sunday the 26th morning brings a pulse: a 7ft swell from the west with a short period of 7 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 452 (moderate), so there’s some grunt, but the wind is a cross-shore from the NW, which kicks up a slight cross-chop. It’s only rated as marginal, so it’s not clean. Sunday afternoon gets bigger at 8ft from the west, but the wind swings to a cross-onshore, making it choppy and poor. That 8ft is getting up there, so it’s for experienced surfers only.

Monday the 27th morning still has some size – 7ft from the WNW – and the wind is a cross-off from the NW, which keeps the surface clean. The swell period is still short at 6 seconds, and the energy drops to 328 (moderate). The wave comment says “poor surf conditions,” so don’t expect any quality. Monday afternoon drops off in size and gets choppy again.

After Monday, the whole system dies. From Tuesday the 28th all the way through to Thursday the 6th of August, we’re back to tiny, weak swells under 2ft, with periods of 4 to 6 seconds and combined energy mostly in the teens or lower. The wind is a mix of cross-off, glass, and onshore, but the waves are just not there. There are a few glassy mornings (like the 29th of July, the 1st of August, and the 5th of August), but with zero swell those days, it’s just a nice flat ocean.

The only spot on the cards is Cassis - Plage de l'Arène (a reef break). It’s a beginner spot, but it’s inconsistent and rarely breaks, which fits this forecast perfectly. The water temperature on the 22nd of July is 80°, which is a whopping 8° warmer than normal – that’s very unusual for this time of year. The optimum swell direction is from the SW, and the few pulses we get are from the W or WNW, so the direction is off, too.

So, the honest truth: there is no standout session. The best you can hope for is a mediocre, short-period wave on Sunday the 26th or Monday the 27th, but even then, the quality is poor. For the next 16 days, the surf is basically flat or close to it. It’s a dry spell, and it’s a normal one for this area when the patterns don’t line up. I’d save the wax for another week.

Rusty.

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