Strathy Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Scotland – North Coast, UK)

Forecast
- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
Maps
Live
Weather State
Spot Information

Strathy Bay Surf Guide

Strathy Bay on the North Coast is an exposed river break that has quite consistent surf and can work at any time of the year. Offshore winds blow from the southwest with some shelter here from west winds. Waves just as likely from local windswells as from distant groundswells and the ideal swell angle is from the northwest. Waves at the river are both lefts and rights. Surfable at all stages of the tide. It very rarely gets crowded here. Surfing here means negotiating dangerous rips.

Strathy Bay Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
River	3	fairly consistent	9.4°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Strathy Bay:

The best conditions reported for surf at Strathy Bay occur when a Northwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Southwest.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf Strathy Bay (for consistent clean waves)?

decemberBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Strathy Bay with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of December. Clean surfable waves are typically found 54% of the time in December while 38% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 8% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

54%

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

38%

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore Strathy Bay Location Map

Interactive Strathy Bay surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The closest passenger airport to Strathy Bay is Wick Airport (WIC) in U.k., 54 km (34 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Strathy Bay is Kirkwall Airport (KOI) in Scotland, 77 km (48 miles) away.

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

Strathy Bay Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 08:43 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05
ft, °F	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM
Wave (m)	N	N	N	N
Period (s)	8	9	9	10
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross

Tides at Strathy Bay

Current tide and informaton

For Armadale Bay, 5 km from Strathy Bay.

Next High Water: 10:58am | 3.32m

Next Low Water: 05:08pm | 0.79m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

Strathy Bay Sea Temperature

Very cold water temperature (9.4 °C) at Strathy Bay. Despite the sunshine, even with a thick winter wetsuit, neoprene hood, gloves and boots it will be difficult to stay comfortable in the sea for long today.

Today, many surfers would wear a winter wetsuit, a neoprene hood, gloves and boots.