Poldhu Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about Poldhu Cove. The 16-day outlook is a bit of a mixed bag. There’s not a lot of quality on offer, and you’ll be waiting a long time for anything decent. The water temperature is sitting at 67°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year. That’s a nice surprise if you’re going in without a thick wetsuit.

The first real chance at a surfable wave doesn’t come until Friday, the 21st of August. That morning, we’ve got a tiny 2ft swell from the west, with a period of 9 seconds and some light cross-offshore winds. The combined energy is weak at 101. It’s clean, but very ordinary. The afternoon picks up a bit with a 3ft swell from the west-northwest, 8-second period, and a gentle offshore breeze. Still, the conditions are just “surfable” but nothing to get excited about.

Saturday the 22nd also has a small window: a 2ft swell from the west-northwest with an offshore wind in the afternoon, but it’s choppy and weak. The combined energy is only 83. Sunday morning the 23rd brings a 0.7ft swell from the south-southwest with a 14-second period, which is a long period groundswell, but it’s just too small. The energy is a paltry 41.

Now, the two standout days, if you can call them that, are Tuesday the 25th and Saturday the 29th. Tuesday the 25th morning sees a 7ft swell from the southwest, 8-second period, with cross-shore winds. The combined energy jumps to 709, which is strong. But the winds are lumpy and cross-choppy, and the conditions are marginal. This is really only for experienced surfers, and even then, it’s not great.

The best bet comes on Saturday the 29th. The afternoon brings a 10ft swell from the south-southwest, with a 9-second period and gentle cross-onshore winds. The combined energy is a massive 1846 – that’s very strong wave energy. But the wind is onshore and choppy, so it’s messy. The swell is big enough that it’s for experts only. The direction is from the south-southwest, which is close to the optimum southwest direction for this spot, but the quality is still poor.

The gap between decent surf is huge – you’re looking at days of nothing from the start until the 21st, and then a few more days of small, weak, or choppy conditions before the big swell on the 25th. And then the best, but still messy, swell on the 29th. Honestly, this stretch is more interesting for the wind than the waves. The onshore winds and strong cross-shore breezes on the 19th, 20th, and 25th afternoons make it look more like a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing one.

Rusty.

Read more