Swanage Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee or a beer, and let’s talk about what’s happening at Swanage. I’ve been staring at the charts and, to be honest, it’s looking pretty rough for the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a massive 16-day window here, and for the first week or more, there’s basically nothing on the table. You might want to take up a hobby for a while because the surf is going to be a ghost.

For the very first surfable recommendation, we don't really get a solid option until mid-month. We start with a zero score across the board, especially Tuesday the 7th through to the middle of the month. It’s a real flat spell. The water temperature at the start is sitting at 64°F, which is a massive 5°F warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s a pretty unusual anomaly, so the sea feels like a bathtub, but there’s no energy behind it.

Looking ahead, it’s not until around Wednesday the 15th of July afternoon that we see some bump in size. We get a 5ft swell from the East, with a short period of 6 seconds. The combined energy is 172 (moderate), but the wind is coming from the South at 6 mph as a cross-shore. This is for the break at Swanage, which is a very sheltered, rarely breaking spot. Given it’s a beach setup and the swell quality is poor, this isn't really a paddle surfer’s dream – that short-period east swell with cross-shore wind will feel more like messy windswell. The setup probably looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The only other notable blip comes on Tuesday the 22nd of July morning. We get a 4ft swell from the WSW with a period of 7 seconds and a combined energy of 125 (moderate). The wind finally goes offshore from the WSW at a strong 22 mph. This is a fresh, clean offshore, which is a major positive. For Swanage, which rarely breaks anyway and is very sheltered, a clean offshore wind on a 4ft swell is about as good as you can hope for, but it’s still a short-period swell. It’s inconsistent, but if you’re desperate, that might be your best shot, but it's still a long way from a standout. For the rest of the week after that, it drops right back down again.

Overall, it’s a blank run. There’s a long gap of over a week with no real recommendations, and then only a couple of days with very marginal, poor-quality surf. Forecasts can change, but right now, it’s a flat spell that’s normal for this sheltered corner.

Rusty.

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