Norderney Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, this is Rusty. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for Norderney over the next couple of weeks. Straight up, I’m gonna be honest with you – it’s a tough outlook. The forecast is showing a lot of wind and messy conditions, and hardly any windows with clean, rideable waves. Most of the time, the wind is too strong or from the wrong direction, leaving the surf chopped up and unappealing. We’ve got a lot of nothing to get through before anything worth paddling out for shows up.

The whole first week is a write-off, from Sunday the 30th right through to Monday the 7th of September. There’s just gap after gap of poor surf with strong cross-shore winds and cross-chop. Even when the wind turns a bit more favourable, the swell is tiny. For example, Monday the 31st of August and Tuesday the 1st of September see some clean-ish conditions but with swell barely reaching 0.3 ft to 4 ft and weak energy (9 to 107 energy units). It’s not worth suiting up for.

The first sign of life comes on Thursday the 3rd of September. The swell bumps up a bit in the afternoon to 5 ft from the west, with a short, weak period of 6 seconds. The energy jumps to moderate (211), but the wind is a strong cross-offshore from the WSW at 25 mph, so it’ll be clean but pretty bumpy. Then on Friday the 4th of September, we get the biggest swell of the entire period – 6 ft in the morning and 8 ft in the afternoon, both from the WNW with an 8-second period. The energy gets strong (408 and 688), but that afternoon the wind goes near gale from the west at 31 mph, making it properly wild and cross-shore. That’s not surfable for most of us – maybe a session for the diehards or the kite crew.

The best window in the whole 16 days, if you can call it that, is actually the weekend of the 12th and 14th of September. It’s far out, so don’t lock it in yet. On Saturday the 12th, we’ve got 5 ft to 6 ft swell from the west with a 6-7 second period and moderate wave energy (190 to 315). The wind is cross-onshore from the NW, so it’ll be lumpy and choppy – not classic. Then Monday the 14th of September sees a similar setup: 5 ft to 5 ft from the WNW, moderate energy, with a light cross-shore breeze. Still not great.

The best on offer: I’m calling Norderney on the afternoon of Thursday the 3rd. With 5 ft of west swell and a strong cross-offshore wind from the WSW at 25 mph, it’s the cleanest rideable surf we’ll see. The wave energy is moderate at 211, and the break is exposed to the swell. It’s not a standout by any means, but in this forecast, it’s the one. The water temperature is about 66°F, which is pretty average for the time of year (anomaly of 2°F), so no surprises there. Crowds are possible at this break, so you might have company, but with conditions like this, it won’t be packed.

If you’re a beginner, be careful – 5 ft is near your limit, and the wind is strong. For everyone else, it’s a short-period, short-lived window. The rest of the time? Honestly, if the wind keeps up like this, you might want to consider whether the setup is better for kite surfing than paddle surfing, especially on the 4th of September.

Rusty.

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