Porth Ceriad Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let me be straight with you – it’s a tough run ahead. We’re looking at a long, long stretch where the conditions just aren’t coming together for a decent paddle. There’s a big gap of surf that’s simply not worth your time, and honestly, it’s going to feel like a bit of a drought. Let’s break it down.

The first real chance to even think about a wave comes Sunday morning, the 30th of August. Porth Ceriad is showing a tiny 3 ft swell from the SW, but it’s a total write-off. We’ve got a storm risk and a fresh 19 mph southerly wind blowing straight onshore. The water is sitting at 66°F, which is a whopping 5°F warmer than usual for this time of year – that’s very unusual. But that doesn’t save the surf. The combined energy is weak (118), and it’s just poor out there. That afternoon, it gets a bit bigger at 5 ft, but the wind stays on, and the period drops to 6 seconds, making it even messier.

Monday and Tuesday aren’t any better. The wind shifts, but it’s still cross or cross-on, and the swell is small and weak. The only glimmer is Monday morning, when the wind goes cross-off from the NW, cleaning up the 3 ft WSW swell, but the score is still zero. It’s just not enough.

Then we hit a real wall from Wednesday, the 2nd of September, through to the end of the first week. The swell picks up, but it’s accompanied by strong winds. Wednesday morning sees a 7 ft SW swell, but it’s with a 28 mph cross-on wind. That’s a lot of energy (347), but it’s blown out, messy, and strong. For a beginner spot like this, 7 ft is already too big. By Friday the 4th, it’s 8 ft from the WSW with the same strong breeze (657 energy), which is firmly in the "experts only" zone, and even then, it’s a messy cross-shore chop. For a beach setup like this, that’s more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

After that stormy mess, the surf drops right off. From Saturday the 5th of September onward, the swell is tiny, often under 2 ft, and the energy is pathetic. The wind does get clean – we see some glassy conditions on the morning of the 10th, and offshore winds on the 9th – but there’s no wave to ride. It’s a flat spell that stretches all the way to the end of the forecast on the 14th of September. That’s a solid 10-day gap of nothing worth paddling out for.

So, to be honest, there’s no standout. There’s no best on offer. The entire 16-day window is a write-off for Porth Ceriad. The combination of messy, strong winds on the bigger days and flat, clean days with no swell means there’s nothing to recommend. It’s a blank run, and for this area, that’s a bit of a tough stretch, but it happens. Forecasts can change, but right now, I’d say save your energy.

Rusty.

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