Porth Ceriad Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a long, honest look at what’s coming up for Porth Ceriad over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: this is a grim stretch. The entire 16-day window is basically a write-off for decent surf. From now through to the end of the forecast, every single session is scored as poor surf conditions. There’s no standout day, no window of clean, rideable waves worth paddling out for. If you’re looking for a silver lining, the water is running much warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting at 66°F with a 5°F anomaly – that’s notably warm, but it won’t help the waves.

The first week is particularly rough. From Monday 31 August through to Friday 4 September, we’ve got a mix of cross and cross-onshore winds, with speeds ranging from 15 mph up to 22 mph. Swell heights are mostly around 3 ft to 5 ft, but the periods are short – 4 to 9 seconds – and the energy is weak. On Wednesday morning 2 September the wind is straight onshore at 19 mph with only 3 ft of weak, short-period swell. On Friday 4 September morning, there’s a bit more size at 5 ft, and moderate energy (252), but it’s a fresh cross-shore wind with lumpy cross-chop. Not the kind of conditions that make you want to grab your board.

The weekend of 5 and 6 September offers a brief moment of calm. Saturday morning 5 September goes glassy with a light ENE breeze at 3 mph, and the water is clean. But the swell is tiny – only 1 ft with a combined energy of just 19 – and the period is 6 seconds. It’s flat, really. That afternoon and into Sunday, it drops even smaller, with 1.0 ft and 0.3 ft. There’s a long-period 13-second signal on Sunday, but it’s so small (0.3 ft) and onshore that it’s meaningless.

The second week doesn’t get any better. Monday 7 September afternoon actually sees offshore winds from the NNW at 12 mph, and it’s clean, but the swell is 0.3 ft – completely flat. The rest of the week is a mess: strong winds, more onshore flow, and occasional pulses of 5 ft to 6 ft on 8 and 9 September, but with gale-force cross-onshore winds up to 28 mph, it’s blown out. On Thursday 10 September morning, we’re looking at a severe gale from the WSW at 47 mph, with 5 ft of swell and total chop. That’s not surfable – it’s more of a kite-surfing setup for anyone hardy enough.

From 11 September onward, the wind turns cross-offshore or offshore, and it’s clean, but the swell is a joke: 1.0 ft to 2 ft, with periods of 4 to 6 seconds and energy in the single digits. By 13 September, there’s no swell at all. The last few days of the forecast show nothing but zeros and tiny, inconsequential waves.

So, bottom line: there’s nothing here for surfers. Porth Ceriad is consistent and exposed to SW swell, but the timing and wind are all wrong. It’s a rare stretch of blank days. The forecast might change, but for now, leave the board at home.

Rusty.

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