Paignton Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee and listen up. Rusty here, and I'm lookin' at the charts for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, it's a bit of a tough one. We've got a few days ahead where the ocean just isn't cooperating. The good news is that after a dry spell, there's a bit of a pulse coming through, but you've got to be patient.

Let's start with the here and now. The water's sitting at a warm 67°F, which is a solid 5°F warmer than you'd normally expect for this time of year. That's a real treat for the skin, but the waves are nowhere to be seen. The first proper surfable swell doesn't show up until Monday, the 24th of August. Before that, it's all flat or tiny, choppy slop. Friday and Saturday are a write-off, with tiny 1.0ft to 3ft windswell and crummy cross-onshore winds. Sunday's not much better, with a 0.7ft swell in the morning. It's a real dead patch.

The first real action comes Monday morning, the 24th of August. The swell at Paignton will jump to 6ft from the east, with a period of just 6 seconds—that's short period windswell. The energy is moderate though, sitting at 243, and the wind is howling onshore at 22 mph from the east. That's going to be a messy, blown-out affair. Monday afternoon gets even bigger, with 8ft of east swell and strong energy at 539. But with a 25 mph onshore gale, that's expert territory only, and it'll be a battle. The wind turns easterly on Tuesday morning, still onshore at 16 mph, with a 6ft swell. That's still a tough paddle.

Now, here's the glimmer. While the wave heights drop off on Tuesday afternoon and through the rest of the week, the wind does a full 180. Starting Wednesday, the 26th of August, the wind swings to the southwest and south-southwest, going cross-offshore and then fully offshore. The swell disappears, so the ocean goes glassy and clean, but flat. There's nothing to ride. This pattern of clean, offshore winds with no swell continues day after day, all the way through to the 5th of September. The water's still warm, but you'll be staring at a flat, oily sea.

The only tiny bit of hope is on Saturday, the 29th of August. In the afternoon, a 2ft swell from the south-southeast pops up with a 4-second period. The wind is offshore from the west-southwest at 12 mph, so it'll be clean. But the energy is a weak 25, and the period is so short it's barely a wave. It's a micro-session for the most desperate of soul surfers.

So, the standout? Honestly, there isn't a true standout this period. The best chance for a wave is Monday the 24th of August, but it's a big, windy, onshore mess. For clean conditions, you'll have to wait until the 26th, but there's no swell. It's a grim outlook. The setup is more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer on the 24th, with that strong onshore wind and decent swell. But for us, it's a waiting game.

Rusty.

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