Portreath Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s have a look at what’s on the table for Portreath Beach over the next couple of weeks.

To be straight with you, it’s a bit of a grim run for the first week. We’ve got a long stretch of poor surf conditions, and for the first several days there’s just nothing worth getting excited about. From Friday the 21st all the way through to the end of the following week, the waves are tiny, or messy, or both. The combined swell energy is mostly weak, barely scraping into triple digits on a couple of days (146 on Friday afternoon, 206 on Friday morning) but that’s paired with a nasty cross-onshore wind. Saturday the 22nd morning gives a glimmer with a clean 1 ft swell and 79 energy, but that’s ankle-high and short period. The whole first week is basically a write-off.

Now, things do start to turn around towards the end of the forecast window. The standout period is the final weekend and into the start of September. On Friday the 28th of August, we see a jump in size: a 7 ft to 7 ft swell from the west, but it’s straight onshore and short period (7 to 8 seconds), so the quality is poor. That swell energy ramps up to 496 in the afternoon – that’s moderate energy, but the wind ruins it.

However, the real highlight comes Saturday the 29th of August. Portreath Beach sees a 8 ft swell from the west, 8-second period, with combined energy hitting 746 – that’s solid, moderate energy pushing through. The wind is cross-on from the west at 16 mph, which is a bit of a blow, so it’ll be choppy. At over 8 ft, this is only for the experts – the size is serious. The next day, Sunday the 30th, drops a touch to 6 ft from the west-southwest, still with 334 energy in the morning and a clean cross-off wind from the south-southwest. That’s the pick of the whole outlook, really: a decent-sized swell with clean conditions, but the period is short at 7 seconds, so it’ll be a bit fat and won’t have that long-period punch. It’s still the best on offer for anyone who can handle the size.

After that, it fades again. Through Monday the 31st and into September, we’re back to small, choppy surf with energy dropping below 200. The water temperature isn’t given here, so I can’t tell you if it’s warm or cold for the time of year.

So there you have it: a long gap of almost no surf until the final weekend of August, then a couple of days of decent size for the experienced crew. If you’re a beginner, the whole 16-day window is out of your reach – it’s either too small or too big. Keep an eye on the forecasts, though; things change.

Rusty.

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