Southerndown Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s have a look at what’s on the cards.

To be straight with you, Southerndown is looking pretty quiet over this whole 16-day window. There’s no proper surf to get excited about. The water’s sitting at 70°F, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – a real anomaly of 8°F above average. That’s the sort of thing you’d normally only see once in a long while.

We kick off Saturday 15 August. Morning brings glassy conditions with no wind at all, and a tiny 1ft swell from the WSW, but it’s short period at 8 seconds and the combined energy is weak (20). It’s a no-go for surfing. Saturday afternoon the onshore picks up from the WSW at 9 mph and the quality doesn’t improve.

Sunday 16 August is more of the same: a little 1.0ft to 1ft swell from the WSW, period dropping to 7 seconds, and cross-onshore wind that messes up the surface. Monday 17 August through to Tuesday 18 August only get a little bigger, up to 3ft, but the period stays short around 5 to 6 seconds, and the cross-onshore wind is moderate and choppy. The wave energy is still weak (combined energy under 100).

Wednesday 19 August pushes up to 3ft from the W, but still short period at 6 seconds and cross-onshore. Not worth paddling out.

Thursday 20 August is the closest we get to anything mildly interesting. The swell hits 4ft from the WSW, period nudges 7 seconds, and the combined energy climbs to 130 (moderate wave energy) in the morning. But it’s cross-onshore at 12 to 16 mph and the forecast calls it poor surf conditions. Not one to get excited about.

Friday 21 August the wind swings NNE early morning at 3 mph, offshore, and it’s clean. But the swell drops back to 2ft from the WSW, short period at 7 seconds, and the energy is weak (48). It’s surfable for a beginner on a longboard, but nothing to write home about.

From Saturday 22 August right through to Sunday 30 August, the swell stays tiny – mostly under 2ft – with periods all over the place from 4 seconds up to 15 seconds, but the energy is weak (combined energy under 40 most of the time). The wind is often offshore or cross-offshore, keeping the surface clean, but there’s simply not enough wave to ride. The setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on most of those days, especially when the wind is up.

So, the honest truth: there are no standout days here. The best you can hope for is the morning of Friday 21 August with clean offshore wind and a tiny 2ft swell, but it’s for the beginners and longboarders only. For the rest, you’re waiting out a long gap of poor conditions. It tends not to stay this flat forever around here, and forecasts can always change, but for now, leave the board at home.

Rusty.

Read more