Le Petit Train Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s be honest right off the bat. I’ve taken a good, hard look at what’s coming our way, and the news ain’t great. The whole 16-day window is a bit of a write-off. There’s no quality surf on offer here at all. The swell is tiny, the wind is rarely right, and the few moments that are surfable are just not worth getting excited about. It’s one of those flat spells that’s more normal for this area than we’d like.

The first few days are a real struggle. Thursday the 6th of August, we’ve got some small swell at 3ft from the WNW, but the wind is a cross-on mess from the NNW, making it choppy and poor. The combined wave energy is weak (107). By Friday morning the 7th, it goes glassy, and the swell drops to 2ft, but the period is a short 6 seconds, so it’s just weak, ordinary waves. That’s the best we’ll see for a while, and it’s nothing to write home about.

We then hit a long, dry spell. From Saturday the 8th right through to Wednesday the 19th of August, the swell is mostly below 2ft, the wind is often cross-on or onshore, and the few moments of glassy conditions just don’t have enough push behind them. The energy readings are all in the double digits or low triple digits, which is weak. It’s a real stretch of nothingness.

There’s a flicker of life on the 13th of August, with a clean, cross-off wind and a 2ft swell from the west, but it’s still just a 1/10 kind of day. The only time the energy gets anywhere near interesting is around the 18th of August, with a 4ft swell from the WNW, but the wind is a solid cross-on 12-16 mph, making it choppy and horrible. The combined energy is moderate (177), but with that wind, you’d be fighting a losing battle. This setup would be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The absolute best of a bad bunch is Friday morning, the 7th of August. At Le Petit Train, the water is a warm 75°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year. The wind is calm and glassy, so the surface will be perfect. But the swell is only 2ft with a short period of 6 seconds, so the waves will be small and weak. The combined swell energy is weak (49). It’s surfable, but only just. It’s a beginner-friendly wave, but it’s inconsistent and likely to be crowded. Still, if you’re desperate for a paddle, that’s your window.

For the rest of the run, there’s nothing. A few more glassy mornings pop up, like the 10th and 12th of August, but the swell is too small to do anything with. The forecast is reliable for the near term, and it’s just a long, flat, disappointing period. Forecasts can change, but right now, I’d be dusting off the longboard or finding something else to do.

Rusty.

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