Paignton Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what the next couple of weeks are serving up for us.

Honestly, the outlook for Paignton over the next 16 days is a tough one. There’s a brief bit of swell showing early on, but it gets blown out or turns to mush before you can even blink, and then we’re looking at a long, dry spell with hardly a wave worth mentioning. We’ll break it down day by day.

We kick off on Monday the 24th of August with some energy, but it’s not pretty. There’s a 6ft easterly swell pushing in for the morning with a short, weak 6-second period and combined energy of 284 (moderate), but it’s pinned by a fresh 22 mph easterly wind. That means onshore, choppy, poor conditions. The water is much warmer than normal at 67°F, a notable 5°F above average for this time of year, but that’s the only good thing. The afternoon sees the swell jump to 7ft and the energy ramping up to 466, but it’s still messy with that same strong onshore wind. Not a day for a paddle, maybe more interesting for the kite crew.

Tuesday the 25th is no better. Morning brings a 5ft swell from the ENE, period at 7 seconds, energy at 226 (moderate). But the wind is still blowing 16 mph from the ENE, straight onshore, keeping things poor. By the afternoon, the swell drops to 4ft, the period shortens, and the wind swings cross-onshore. Clean wave faces? Forget it.

Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th see the swell dying. Wednesday morning is a tiny 1.0ft with a 5-second period and a mere 5 energy units, with a cross-shore breeze. Thursday morning is only 2ft, still weak. There’s almost no push. It stays that way, flatlining into Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th with zero swell, just clean but waveless conditions.

We get a tiny pulse of life on Sunday the 30th – a 1ft southerly swell with a 3-second period, energy at 4. That’s barely a ripple. Then it’s back to nothing from the 31st of August all the way through to the 8th of September. That’s over a week with no worthwhile swell. The wind does go offshore or cross-offshore for many of those days, so it would be glassy and clean if there were anything to ride, but there isn’t. A couple of small signals show up on the 4th of September (1.0ft) and the 8th of September (1.0ft), but they are so feeble and short-period they aren't worth getting out of bed for.

So, the brutal truth: There is no standout session in this 16-day window. The only real window with any size is Monday and Tuesday, but the wind ruins it completely. After that, we’re looking at a huge gap of flat, clean, but empty ocean. For a spot like Paignton that can be inconsistent, this kind of blank run is not unusual, but it still stings. Keep an eye on the charts, because it tends not to stay this poor forever.

Rusty.

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