Paignton Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, it’s Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it. Looking at the charts for Paignton, and I’ll be honest, we’ve got a bit of a waiting game on our hands. The next week and a half is looking pretty poor, with only tiny, weak pulses of swell. There’s a lot of flatness and close-outs in the mix, so you might be better off waxing a longboard or just having a beach day instead.

The good news is that things start to look a little more promising towards the end of the forecast window. The water’s running at about 66°F which is much warmer than normal for this time of year. We’ve got a lot of wind early on, mostly offshore which keeps the surface clean, but without any real swell, it’s just a washing machine out there.

Starting this Friday the 4th and into the weekend, it’s flat. There’s no energy at all. Saturday the 5th has some clean conditions but with nothing to ride. We finally see a knee-high wobble kick in on Sunday the 6th, with a SE swell at 1ft and a period of only 4 seconds. That’s not even worth suiting up for. And the wind is onshore, making it a bit choppy.

We’ve got a solid stretch of flat days from Monday the 7th all the way through to Sunday the 13th. The wind will be blowing offshore and cross-offshore, keeping things glassy at times, but there is simply no swell. It’s a long, dry spell.

Things start to stir a little on Monday the 14th, with a small easterly pulse to 2ft. The period is still short though, around 4-5 seconds, and it's weak energy in the water. There’s some more of the same on Tuesday the 15th, a bit of inconsistent push to 2ft, but it's not doing much. It’s all short-period windswell.

The end of the week sees a slight uptick again. On Thursday the 17th, we get a light NE swell with a period of 3-4 seconds, but Friday the 18th is where it gets a little more interesting. We’ve got a morning glass-off with a small easterly swell at 3ft. It's still not big, but with the light winds and a period of 5 seconds, it’s the cleanest it’s been all week.

Now for the standout. Saturday the 19th is the day to keep an eye on. We've got a building swell from the east pushing 6ft in the morning with a period of 6 seconds. The energy jumps right up, which is the first strong reading we’ve seen in this whole outlook. The wind is dead calm, glassy as can be. This will be the biggest and cleanest surf of the entire period. This is the one to circle on the calendar. It's still a short-period swell, so it might not be the most powerful, but it'll be a world away from what we've been dealing with. It’s a bit on the bigger side, so maybe not ideal for the total beginners, but for the rest of us, it’ll be worth it. The afternoon sees it back off slightly to 5ft with a light cross-onshore breeze coming in. The energy is still solid, but the morning is the clear pick.

So, there you have it. A long, flat start, and one promising day at the end. Get your gear ready for the 19th.

Rusty.

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