Salcombe Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you about the surf ahead. It’s a tough stretch for Salcombe, no two ways about it. We’re looking at a long window where the ocean just isn’t playing ball for us. We’ve got a lot of blown-out, messy conditions and onshore winds doing their best to ruin any chance of a clean wave.

The water temp is sitting at 66°, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year, so at least you won’t be freezing while you’re shaking your head at the ocean. Let's get into the daily grind of it.

The first real chance of anything doesn't come until the 20th, and even then it’s rough. We’ve got a 6ft swell from the west on Thursday morning, but with a 19 mph cross-offshore wind, it’s just not holding up. It’s a battle, not a pleasure. The energy reading is 453, which is moderate, but the wind and the short period make it a mess. The swell period is only 9 seconds, and that’s not doing us any favors. Thursday afternoon is more of the same, a bit bigger at 6ft but still poor.

The gap between genuinely surfable days is big. We’re talking a week or more of close to nothing. Friday the 21st is a small 3ft, and then it just dribbles down to barely a ripple. There’s a stint from the 22nd through the 25th where the swell is tiny and the wind is all wrong—cross-onshore and messy, with strong breezes. It’s a dead zone. You’d be better off finding a skatepark.

Now, there is one moment that gets the heart going, but it’s a long way off. The 29th of August is the standout, the one true spike in this whole forecast. Saturday morning we’re looking at a solid 12ft of west-southwest swell, with the energy reading going off the charts at 2027. That’s strong, powerful stuff. The wind is a cross-offshore at 19 mph, which will keep the faces relatively clean. That’s a big, serious wave. At 12ft, this is strictly for experts—this is not a beginner’s day, this is a day for people who know exactly what they’re doing. The period is 9 seconds, which is okay, but that size is the real story. It’s a distant, promising blip, but the long-range call is less certain. The energy is huge, and if it lines up, it could be the one to get out for. The afternoon sees it back off slightly to 10ft but it’s still hefty, and the wind picks up to 22 mph.

Before that, the 26th and 28th show some pulse. The 26th has around 6ft from the southwest, but with onshore winds, it’s not going to be pretty. The 28th builds again, with 8ft on the morning and 8ft by the afternoon, but it’s cross-shore with a lumpy chop, and that’s not what you want. It’s a chop fest, and if you’re not careful, you’ll be spending more time duck-diving than surfing. At that size and with that wind, for a break like this, it might be more interesting for a kite than a paddleboard.

After the big day on the 29th, it fades fast. The 30th is smaller and mixed with a storm risk, and then we’re back to small, clean but tiny waves with offshore winds. The 31st and into September we’ve got some offshore flow, but the swell is just too small to be worth the paddle. It’s clean, but you’ll be fighting for ankle-biters.

So, there you have it. One big, promising Saturday on the 29th that’s a long way out and could change. A whole lot of nothing in between. It’s one of those stretches where you wait it out and hope the forecast shifts. It tends not to stay this poor for long, so keep an eye on it. But don’t get your hopes up for the rest of the week.

Rusty out.

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