Portreath Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break it down.

Right off the bat, I’ve gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are looking pretty bleak for a proper session at Portreath Beach. We’ve got a solid run of poor surf conditions that just won’t let up, and there’s no real standout window to get excited about. The first real glimmer of anything surfable doesn’t show up until Thursday the 18th of September, and even then, it’s nothing to write home about.

Let’s talk about what’s on offer. The forecast starts with a bit of a thump on Tuesday the 8th of September, with a 6 ft swell from the WNW, but it’s getting hammered by a 19 mph onshore wind from the NNW. That’s a messy, blown-out combo. The combined swell energy is sitting at 1181 (moderate to strong), but with that wind, it’s just a washing machine. Not worth paddling out.

This pattern sticks around for days. Wednesday the 9th sees a drop to 4 ft, still with onshore winds, and the energy drops to 397. Still poor. Thursday the 10th has a moment of cleaner conditions with cross-offshore winds, but the swell is a weak 3 ft with a terrible 4-second period (windswell) with only 67 energy. That’s not surf, that’s a ripple. The afternoon does bump up to 6 ft, but the wind is howling at 19 mph, and it’s still classed as poor.

Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th are dominated by cross-onshore winds and choppy, lumpy seas. The swell hangs around 4 ft to 5 ft, but the quality is just not there. You’d be fighting wind and chop the whole time.

Sunday the 13th offers a 6 ft swell from the west, but it’s cross-onshore again. The energy is 559 (moderate), but the wind is ruining the shape. Same story for Monday the 14th, where the swell drops to 3 ft and the energy falls to 132 (weak). It’s a flat, windy mess.

The real kicker is that we have a long gap of nothing but poor surf conditions until the 18th. From Tuesday the 15th through to Wednesday the 23rd, the swell is small, the winds are mostly cross-onshore, and the energy is low. The only slight change comes on the 18th, where we see a tiny 3 ft swell from the WNW with a clean cross-offshore wind. The energy is 122 (weak). It’s surfable, but you’d be on a longboard or a foamie, scraping for little waist-high waves. That’s the best of the whole forecast, and it’s a real stretch to call it a standout.

The 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of September see a bit more size – 3 ft to 4 ft from the west and WNW, with a period picking up to 11-13 seconds. That’s a longer period groundswell, which is nice, and the winds are cross-offshore from the east. But the combined energy is still moderate (268 to 476), and the surf is still rated as poor. The longer period might make it a bit too straight for the beach break here, but with the clean winds, it could be okay for a more experienced surfer on a point or reef, but this is a beach break. Still, it’s not the quality you’d want to plan a trip around.

Water temperature on Tuesday the 8th is 64°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year (3°F anomaly). So, you’ll be in a shorty or spring suit, no problem.

Honestly, if you’re a kite surfer, the strong onshore winds and moderate swell on the 8th, 13th, and 16th might look more interesting than paddle surfing. For a paddler, it’s a grim outlook. The forecast confidence is higher for the first week, and it’s all bad. The second week has a faint promise of cleaner conditions, but the swell is small and the energy is weak. It’s a tough run.

Rusty.

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