Porthtowan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's talk Porthtowan. We've got a long stretch of small, messy surf ahead, with only a couple of brief windows where things might clean up enough for a proper session. The main issue is the wind, which is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and the wave energy just isn't there for the most part.

The first real chance to get a paddle in comes on Tuesday, July 28th. Tuesday morning we've got a light cross-offshore breeze from the SSW, which is a positive, and the waves are coming in at 3ft from the WNW. The period is a middling 9 seconds, and the combined energy is a weak 110. It's not going to be a classic, but it's clean and rideable. Then Tuesday afternoon, it turns glassy. The wind drops to nothing, and the swell goes a little smaller to 2ft from the same direction, with a combined energy of only 84. It's flat, but it'll be smooth as a lake. For a beginner-friendly spot like Porthtowan, these are the windows to aim for. The water temp is about what you'd expect for this time of year.

After that, it goes pretty quiet. From Wednesday the 29th right through to Monday, August 3rd, it's mostly poor, choppy, and small. There's a lot of nothing happening. The swell is tiny, often under 2ft, and the wind is all over the shop. The best of a bad lot on Monday, August 3rd is a clean morning with a 1ft cross-offshore wind from the east, but it's a real knee-slapper of a wave.

Now, things get a bit more interesting but not necessarily better. On Thursday, August 6th, the swell picks up to 5ft to 6ft from the SW, but it's a short period windswell (7 seconds) with a cross-onshore wind. The combined energy jumps to 227 and then 303, which is moderate, but the quality is poor. It's going to be a choppy, lumpy mess. This setup is more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, to be honest.

The biggest swell of the run hits on Saturday, August 8th. We're looking at 7ft from the west with a better 9-10 second period and combined energy of 626 and 646. That's strong wave energy. But the wind is howling cross-onshore from the WNW at 9-12 mph. This is a powerful, unsurfable mess. That's strictly for the experts if anyone even tries, and honestly, I wouldn't. It's a tough paddle with no reward.

The outlook ends with a return to strong, onshore winds and messy, mid-sized waves from August 10th onward. The best I can honestly say is to keep an eye on the Tuesday, July 28th for a glassy, if tiny, paddle. The standout is that window on the 28th—it's not the biggest, but it's the cleanest by a long shot.

Rusty.

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