Surf Forecasts:
The Bowl surf forecast from 3 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Monday 10 Aug, 7AM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 8s period, W swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Sunday 9 Aug, 7AM (local time) - 11ft (3.5m), 10s period, WNW swell with 2,704 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 6 Aug, 10PM (local time) - 2.5ft (0.7m), 7s period with N swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for The Bowl this week:
The surf forecast for The Bowl over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Aug 06) at 10PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.7m and 7s period with a secondary swell of 0.3m and 10s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at The Bowl in the next 16 days are 3.5m 10s and forecast to arrive on Sunday (Aug 09) at 7AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.5m 5s period and expected on Tuesday (Aug 04) at 10PM.
| Wave Type | Time (BST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 10PM (Thu 6th Aug) | 2.5ft (0.7m) 7s |
| Best Surf | 7AM (Mon 10th Aug) | 8ft (2.5m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 7AM (Sun 9th Aug) | 11ft (3.5m) 10s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for The Bowl over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for The Bowl over the next couple of weeks.
Right off the bat, it's a frustrating start. The first week or so is pretty much a write-off. We're looking at a solid week of onshore slop, bumpy conditions, and small, weak swell. The energy is just pathetic, with combined swell numbers barely scraping into the low hundreds – it's a tough stretch. There's a big gap here with nothing worthwhile to recommend.
The first real glimmer of hope comes on Monday, the 10th of August. Monday morning sees a nice jump in size with an 12ft swell from the WNW. The combined energy gets a massive kick up to 1761, which is proper strong. And the wind? It's a light WSW breeze, just 6 mph, coming cross-offshore. That's going to leave the place clean. Now, this is a sturdy reef break, and 12ft is serious size—this is for advanced surfers only. The period is 9 seconds, so it's a bit of a wind swell, but with that energy and clean conditions, it's the standout of the entire forecast. The water temp is about 56°, which is pretty normal for this time of year.
The only other moment that might get you wet is later that same Monday afternoon, when the wind goes glassy and offshore from the NNW at just 3 mph. The swell is still a solid 10ft from the WNW, with energy at 1618. It's still a big, powerful wave, definitely not for the faint-hearted.
After that big pulse, things drop right back off. Tuesday the 11th has some clean, smaller waves, but the energy is way down. Then from Wednesday the 12th right through the rest of the forecast, it's back to tiny, weak, and mostly onshore junk. The combined energy numbers are barely reaching double digits – it's a flat spell, plain and simple. The last few days of the 16-day window show a tiny, weak bump from the WNW again, but it's nothing to get excited about.
So, the play is clear: if you're an experienced surfer, circle Monday the 10th of August on your calendar. The morning session looks best, with that 12ft WNW swell and clean, light winds. It's the only real stand-out in an otherwise pretty bleak outlook.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 36mm), heaviest during Wed afternoon. Very mild (max 16°C on Mon afternoon, min 11°C on Wed afternoon). Winds increasing (light winds from the ESE on Mon morning, fresh winds from the ESE by Tue morning). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 4mm), mostly falling on Sat night. Very mild (max 16°C on Fri morning, min 11°C on Thu night). Winds increasing (light winds from the WSW on Thu night, strong winds from the W by Sat afternoon). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Monday 3 | Tuesday 4 | Wednesday 5 | Thursday 6 | Friday 7 | Saturday 8 | Sunday 9 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | N 9 | N 9 | N 8 | N 8 | N 8 | E 6 | NE 6 | NNE 6 | N 6 | N 6 | N 6 | N 7 | W 10 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 8 | WNW 10 | WNW 9 | W 7 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 230 | 186 | 136 | 107 | 63 | 172 | 206 | 190 | 153 | 119 | 67 | 32 | 48 | 194 | 343 | 471 | 298 | 1338 | 1922 | 1157 | 510 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross | cross-off |
High Tide | 12:20PM4.52m | 00:23AM4.81m | 12:59PM4.42m | 1:04AM4.67m | 1:46PM4.29m | 1:55AM4.48m | 2:44PM4.17m | 3:01AM4.28m | 3:55PM4.11m | 4:23AM4.15m | 5:15PM4.16m | 5:55AM4.19m | 6:32PM4.36m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 6:19PM1.78m | 6:50AM1.50m | 6:59PM1.93m | 7:34AM1.68m | 7:47PM2.10m | 8:27AM1.89m | 8:50PM2.27m | 9:36AM2.09m | 10:15PM2.33m | 11:01AM2.17m | 11:47PM2.18m | 12:22PM2.08m | 1:01AM1.85m | ||||||||
 | |  |  |  |  | | |  |  | |  | | |  | | | |  | | | |
 | 5:07 | — | — | 5:09 | — | — | 5:11 | — | — | 5:13 | — | — | 5:15 | — | — | 5:18 | — | — | 5:20 | — | — |
 | — | — | 9:32 | — | — | 9:30 | — | — | 9:28 | — | — | 9:24 | — | — | 9:22 | — | — | 9:20 | — | — | 9:17 |
mm | — | — | — | 7 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 2 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 15 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
Feels °C | 12 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 11 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | N 9 | N 9 | N 8 | N 8 | N 8 | N 8 | W 10 | ESE 6 | W 11 | W 10 | N 6 | N 7 | W 10 | W 9 | W 9 | NNW 9 | NNW 9 | NNW 8 | — | — | NNW 9 |
| kJ | 230 | 186 | 136 | 107 | 63 | 42 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 67 | 32 | 48 | 194 | 343 | 17 | 16 | 13 | — | — | 231 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | WNW 6 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | W 9 | — | W 10 | W 11 | E 6 | W 10 | W 10 | WSW 5 | NNE 6 | NNE 10 | ESE 7 | SE 7 | N 8 | — | — | — |
| kJ | 26 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | — | 2 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | W 10 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 11 | — | — | — | E 6 | NE 8 | N 12 | NNE 6 | NNE 10 | N 11 | NE 9 | N 9 | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 7 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | E 2 | SE 3 | ESE 4 | E 5 | E 6 | NE 6 | NNE 6 | N 6 | N 6 | — | — | S 3 | S 3 | SSE 4 | W 9 | W 9 | W 8 | WNW 10 | WNW 9 | W 7 |
| kJ | — | 1 | 5 | 27 | 102 | 172 | 206 | 190 | 153 | 119 | — | — | 1 | 4 | 21 | 471 | 298 | 1338 | 1922 | 1157 | 510 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 16 | 9 | 9 | 424 | 170 | 104 | 110 | 1680 | 86 | 63 | 298 | 0 | 26 | 7 | 7 | 176 | 171 | 176 | 642 | 592 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Scotland - North Coast | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
Latest Updates
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our The Bowl surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the The Bowl Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for The Bowl provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at The Bowl can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our The Bowl surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (The Bowl) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for The Bowl may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Are you planning a holiday in Scotland - North Coast? If you are looking for accommodation near The Bowl, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Scotland - North Coast, consider staying in Scrabster which is 7 km (4 miles) away. Other places in and around Scotland - North Coast where you can find information about places to rent, and car hire include Wick which is 39 km (24 miles) away and Kirkwall, 56 km (35 miles) away.
Nearest