Portreath Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming up for Portreath Beach over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty grim. We’ve got a big gap with no real surf to get excited about. From Monday 7th September all the way through to the morning of Saturday 19th September, it’s basically a write-off. The water temperature is sitting at 64°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only thing going for it.

We start off with a fair bit of energy in the water – big combined swell energy readings of 1224 (strong) on Monday afternoon – but it’s all messy. A 7ft swell from the W with a 12-second period sounds okay, but the wind is howling from the WSW at 16 mph, making it a choppy cross-on mess. That pattern just keeps going: Tuesday has a 6ft W swell but a 19 mph NNW cross-on wind, and Wednesday’s a bit smaller but still onshore. The conditions are just poor for a paddle surf. With that much wind and swell, the setup at Portreath Beach looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing for the first few days.

We get a bit of a breather on Thursday 10th – the swell drops to 2ft to 3ft, with a clean cross-off wind, but the period is short (5-7 seconds) and the energy is weak (92 and 77). It’s clean, but there’s nothing to push you down the line. Friday 11th jumps back up to 5ft, but the wind is onshore again.

The first chance of something half-decent comes on Saturday 12th September. The morning shows a 3ft W swell with a 10-second period, a gentle cross-off breeze from the SSW, and clean conditions. The combined energy is 237 (moderate), and the report says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” It’s not going to be a standout, but it’s the first window where you could actually get a few rides. The afternoon sees the wind pick up again, so make the most of the morning.

After that, it’s back to onshore winds and choppy junk until we finally get a change. The real hope comes on Saturday 19th September. The morning shows a 2ft W swell with a 9-second period, a moderate offshore wind from the SE at 12 mph, and clean conditions. The combined energy is 102 (weak to moderate), but that offshore wind is a major positive – it’ll be clean. The report calls it “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” but trust me, after what we’ve been through, clean 2ft with offshore wind at Portreath Beach is the best on offer in this whole period. Crowds are likely here, as it’s often busy, so get there early.

Finally, Sunday 20th September shows a pulse of new swell – 5ft to 6ft from the W with a period of 8-12 seconds, and combined energy climbing to 413 and 794 (strong). But the wind is onshore again from the WNW, so the quality will be poor. It’s a promising sign of more energy to come, but the wind needs to sort itself out.

So, to wrap it up: the standout window is the morning of Saturday 19th September – clean offshore winds and small but surfable waves. The morning of Saturday 12th is a second option if you’re desperate for a paddle. Everything else is a case of waiting for a better forecast. It’s a tough run, but it tends not to stay poor for long around here.

Rusty.

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