Lynmouth Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this forecast for our stretch of coast is a bit of a heartbreaker. We’re looking at a solid run of grovelly, junky waves for the next couple of weeks. It’s a real case of “check the cameras before you even bother with the wetsuit.”

The long and short of it is, there’s no real swell window on the horizon, and what we do get is going to be all over the place with cross and onshore winds. You’ll see a brief pulse of energy around the 7th and 8th, but the wind will chop it to bits. Another little bump of long-period groundswell shows up on the 15th, and that might be our one and only opportunity to get a proper wave under our feet, but it's still small.

Starting off in that first gap, there simply isn't anything to paddle for right now. The wave energy is weak to moderate, with clean conditions but no size. Thursday the 3rd has that poor 4ft to 4ft at 8 seconds, but with a fresh cross-off breeze, it's just not going to line up.

Friday the 4th sees a bump in energy and the swell pushes up to 6ft, but the wind goes cross and it's just "lumpy cross-chop". The weekend drops right back off into the tiny and messy category. Sunday the 6th has a few clean options but at a feeble 1ft to 2ft, it's best saved for a paddle and a float, not a surf.

The first real push of the period comes through Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th. We’re looking at swell heights of 5ft to 7ft from the W with that energy jumping up into the strong range. But here’s the catch: the wind is fresh, cross-onshore and lumpy. Every single report is a zero on the quality meter. It’s going to be a washing machine out there. Given the strong wind and beach/point setup with that messy cross-shore breeze, this honestly looks more like it might be interesting for the kite surfers than us paddle guys. It'll be a wild day, but not a good one for a clean ride at Lynmouth.

After that, it's a slow grind back into the doldrums. The energy fades to moderate and then weak, and the swell stays below 3ft right through the 14th. We get a glassy moment on the afternoon of Monday the 14th, but with only 1ft on offer, it's a mirage. The crowd factor isn't even a worry because you wouldn't bother.

Finally, on Tuesday the 15th of September, we might get a little something. The afternoon shows a long-period swell (12 seconds) from the W, with a light cross-off ESE breeze and a moderate energy reading. It’s a slight improvement, being called "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions". We're only talking 2ft here, so you're not going to be getting barreled, but it might be clean enough to get a couple of soft little runners if you're desperate. That’s our only flicker of hope in the whole 16 days. After that, it fades right back out to nothing again.

This is a classic blank run for this area. We have a break here, Lynmouth, that is usually inconsistent anyway, so this kind of dead stretch isn't entirely a surprise. The water temp is a notable 67°F, which is a huge 5°F warmer than average for this time of year, so at least when you're sitting out there waiting for a set that never comes, you won't be cold.

Just keep an eye on it, lads. This kind of flat spell never lasts forever, and a change in the wind can turn that 7th pulse into something. But for now, the board stays in the car.

Rusty.

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