Redcar Scars Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s be real with you. It’s a pretty flat, grim stretch ahead for our stretch of coast. I’ve looked at the numbers, and honestly, for the next 16 days, there’s nothing that’s going to have you scrambling for your board. The whole window is a write-off for proper surf.

The only spot with any sort of pulse is Redcar Scars, a reef setup that’s usually pretty inconsistent anyway. Right now, it’s just not doing anything. The water is sitting at 61°, which is about normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only thing that’s normal.

We start off with a few days of tiny, weak dribble. The 15th and 16th of August see nothing but ankle-biters around 0.7ft to 1ft with cross-onshore breezes, making it a complete mess. The swell energy is pathetic, reading just 18 and 15.

There’s a brief moment on Monday the 17th where the wind goes dead glassy, but there’s still no swell to speak of, just a 1ft bump with 10 energy. It’s pretty, but completely unrideable. The winds stay offshore from the west on the 18th, but the waves are still only 1ft. It’s a tease.

The first hint of any real pulse arrives on Wednesday the 19th. We get a modest bump up to 3ft, with the energy jumping to 111. The wind is cross-offshore, so it has a chance to be clean. That’s the one small window of hope, but it’s still not enough to get excited about. The period is only 8 seconds, so it’s lacking any real push.

From the 20th into the 22nd, we see the biggest surf of the period, but it’s rubbish. The swell builds to 5ft, with energy reading 293, but it’s all windswell from the north-northeast, hitting our optimum direction. The problem is the onshore and cross-onshore winds are going to chop it to pieces. It’ll be a messy, blown-out war zone. This isn't for the faint of heart or beginners anyway, as it’s over 5ft.

After that, it just fades back into nothing. By the 23rd, we’re back down to under 3ft, and then it’s a long, slow death into flatness. The last week of August is a total loss, with waves dropping to 0.7ft and the energy meter reading down to single digits. The wind is all over the place, but it doesn’t matter because there’s no swell.

So, yeah, there’s a lot of waiting ahead. On the bright side, this sort of blank run isn’t unusual for this stretch, and forecasts can shift. But as it stands, leave the board in the van and maybe bring the kite, because the 20th to the 22nd looks more interesting for that. I’m not holding my breath for any standouts.

Rusty.

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