Salcombe Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your wettie and let’s talk about what’s happening at home. Rusty here, and honestly, the next couple of weeks are going to test your patience more than your paddle stamina. The swell window is looking pretty poor for the most part, with only tiny waves on offer.

We’ve got a dry spell to start. The 8th and 9th are total write-offs with just 0.7ft of swell and no push. The following few days, through the 10th and 11th, improve a touch but are still pants, with only 1ft on Monday and building to 4ft by Tuesday afternoon. That Tuesday afternoon pulse has a bit more energy behind it – we're talking moderate (121) – and the swell direction shifts to the east, but it’s cross-onshore and choppy.

The real tease comes mid-week. Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th see the energy jump into the 150-225 range, which is moderate, but the waves stay small at around 2-3ft. We’re also getting some better period readings on Thursday around 10 seconds. It’s cleaner, but honestly, it’s still small and weak. Nothing to get excited about, my friend.

Then we hit a proper flat spell. From Sunday the 16th through Tuesday the 19th, it’s gutless. Swell heights drop to 0.3-2ft, and while you get a bit of a long-period pulse (16 seconds) on Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th, it’s for nothing. That energy just fizzles out. On the 19th, we get a light offshore wind, but the wave is a whisper at 0.3ft. You could paddle out with a longboard and still not catch a ripple.

Things look a little more hopeful as we head into the second week, but it's still not on. On Thursday the 20th, we finally see some size, with 4ft in the morning and back to 3ft in the afternoon. It’s more of the same clean cross-off wind but with a short 8-second period. The energy is moderate (around 177-220), but the waves will be crumbly.

And that’s about it, folks. This whole 16-day window is a full-on dud. There are no proper standout days, no sessions you’ll be telling your mates about. We’re stuck in a pattern of small, weak surf, and with that, the water temp is running a touch warmer than normal for this time of year at about 65°. That’s a small silver lining, I guess.

Unless this forecast changes, I’d keep your board in the car just in case, but don’t go out of your way. The setup at Salcombe is looking far more interesting for the kite surfers than for us. For us, it’s a blank run, but that’s how it goes sometimes. The surf’s been quiet before, and it’ll fire up again. But not this week, and not next week either.

Stay patient.

Rusty.

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