Magheraroarty Strand Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Magheraroarty Strand has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. Straight up, I’ll be honest with you – this is a tough stretch. We’ve got a massive swell on the way, but it’s going to be messy and overpowering for a spot like this. The water is sitting at 60°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that’s a nice little bonus if you’re toughing it out.

We kick things off on Sunday the 26th, and it’s a no-go from the start. A solid 10ft swell from the WNW is rolling in, but with a 22 mph cross-shore wind, it’s just a lumpy, choppy mess. The combined energy is absolutely pumping at 1677, but it’s way too big for this break, and the conditions are poor. Monday the 27th settles down a bit with a 6ft swell in the morning and a 5ft in the afternoon, dropping to around 3ft by Wednesday morning. The winds go light offshore on Wednesday morning, making for a clean session, but the swell is small at 4ft with a short period of 8 seconds. That’s really the only window that looks remotely surfable in the first week, and even then it’s marginal.

The rest of that week into the start of August is a write-off. We’ve got a solid 4-5 day gap with nothing worth paddling out for. The swell is either too small, too windy, or coming from the wrong direction. The combined energy drops to as low as 83 on Tuesday the 28th, which is basically flat.

Then, hold onto your boards, because Friday the 7th of August throws a massive spike at us. We’re looking at a 10ft swell from the NNW again, with a combined energy of 1939 on the afternoon. That’s a lot of water moving around. The wind is due west at 16 mph, creating a cross-shore chop. This is a big, powerful, messy swell, and for a beginner-friendly point, it’s going to be way too much. This is strictly for experts only, and even then, it’s going to be a battle. The morning of the 7th sees a 5ft swell with a 25 mph offshore wind, which is clean but almost impossible to paddle into.

The standout – and I’m using the term loosely – is the Wednesday morning of the 29th. We’ve got a 4ft swell from the west with a gentle 9 mph offshore wind. The waves will be clean and sheltering a bit, but it’s a short-period swell at 8 seconds, so it won’t have much push. It’s the only real window for a beginner to get a few small, clean waves. After that, it’s a long wait until the 7th, and that’s only for the brave.

For the rest of the second week, from the 8th onwards, it’s back to small, messy, or onshore slop. No real highlights there. The swell drops to 1.0ft by the 10th, which is pretty much flat.

So, the pick of the litter is Wednesday morning, 29th July, for the cleanest, most manageable waves. Everything else is either too big, too windy, or too small. It’s a frustrating run, but it won’t stay like this forever.

Rusty.

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