Porth Ceriad Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Porth Ceriad has on the menu over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta say, it’s looking pretty grim for a good paddle. The water’s sitting at 64°, which is a solid 4° warmer than normal for this time of year – feels more like a late summer swim than an autumn session, but don’t get too stoked, because the waves just aren’t cooperating.

The whole 16-day window is a bit of a desert, honestly. We’re looking at a long stretch with nothing rideable. Starting Sunday September 6th, it’s poor surf conditions with onshore winds (22 mph from the SSE in the morning, easing a bit to 16 mph from the SSW by afternoon) and tiny, weak swell – energy levels are barely a whisper at 66 and 86 (weak energy). The swell is short-period windswell at 5-6 seconds, completely out of sorts.

Monday September 7th is the most interesting, but not in a good way. There’s a pulse of long-period (14 seconds) groundswell from the WSW pushing the combined energy up to 456 (moderate energy) with a head-high 3 ft on the morning, bumping to 5 ft in the afternoon. Sounds promising, right? Wrong. Monday morning is blown out with a 16 mph cross-shore, and the afternoon is even worse – 22 mph cross-onshore from the SW making it a lumpy mess. The wave comment says "poor surf conditions" across the board, and I trust that.

Tuesday September 8th sees a clean-looking morning with a cross-offshore breeze from the W at 22 mph, and 5 ft swell. But again, the energy is low (139 - moderate) and the period is a weak 6 seconds. It’s not holding together. By afternoon, the wind swings cross-shore at 25 mph and it turns into a washing machine.

From Wednesday September 9th right through to the end of the forecast on Monday September 21st, it’s a relentless run of tiny, weak swells, wrong winds, and "poor surf conditions" ratings. We see occasional clean windows (like Friday September 11th afternoon with a light NW breeze, or September 18th Friday afternoon with a cross-offshore), but the swell is barely knee-high (2 ft to 4 ft at best) and the energy is pathetic – all two-digit figures (weak energy) or low three-digit (moderate energy). The period stays short, mostly 4-8 seconds, except for a couple of weird 11-12 second spikes on September 15th that deliver almost no height (0.3 ft). That’s not surf, that’s just a ripple.

Honestly, there isn’t a single standout day in this entire outlook. If you’re desperate for a paddle on a longboard, maybe the Friday September 11th afternoon or Saturday September 19th morning might give you a tiny, clean ankle-snapper, but don’t hold your breath. For any real wave riding, this is a total write-off. The surf setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on any day with decent wind, but for us wave hunters, it’s a blank run. It’s the kind of stretch that’s more normal for this spot when the autumn lulls set in.

Rusty.

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