Surf Forecasts:
The Bowl surf forecast from 29 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Wednesday 29 Jul, 10PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 8s period, W swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Monday 3 Aug, 4AM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 11s period, NNW swell with 1,452 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Wednesday 29 Jul, 10PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 8s period with W 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 Wednesday (Jul 29) at 10PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.0m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.9m and 8s. 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 2.5m 11s and forecast to arrive on Monday (Aug 03) at 4AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives.
| Wave Type | Time (BST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 10PM (Wed 29th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 10PM (Wed 29th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 4AM (Mon 3rd Aug) | 8ft (2.5m) 11s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for The Bowl over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.
This forecast is a weird one. We’re only looking at one spot for the whole run, and it's a reef set-up that needs a very specific window to come together. The first few days are a write-off, so we’re sitting through a lot of junk before we get anything decent.
The first real glimmer of something surfable hits on Thursday morning, 4th August. The Bowl is seeing a 4ft swell from the north, with a period of 9 seconds. The real story here is the wind: dead glassy, with a light breeze from the NNW. That’s about as clean as it gets. The wave energy is moderate (297), so there’s enough push for an advanced wave. But keep in mind, this is an advanced reef break, and it’s only fairly consistent – it might not be pumping, but conditions will be pretty. The water is sitting around 56°, which is bang on normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.
Now, the real standout. If you can wait, Sunday morning, 9th August is the call. We’re looking at a solid 8ft swell from the west, with a 10-second period. That’s in the expert-only zone, and the energy is massive (1217). The wind is glassy again, from the SW, so it’ll be clean. This is a powerful, long-period groundswell hitting a reef, and it’s set to be excellent for experienced surfers. The Bowl is exposed to the NW, but this west swell should wrap in nicely. It’s a long way out, so treat it as a promising bet, but the signs are good.
The rest of the run is pretty grim. Monday morning, 10th August, has a smaller 3ft clean wave, but it’s nothing special. After that, we’re into a long stretch of tiny, lumpy, cross-shore junk from the 11th of August right through to the end of the forecast. The swell drops to under 3ft, the wind is on it, and the energy is weak. Not worth paddling for.
So, to sum it up: the 4th of August is a nice, clean, glassy session for the advanced crew, but the real highlight is the 9th of August. That’s your big, clean, powerful groundswell day. Don’t bother with the rest.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 10mm), heaviest on Thu morning. Very mild (max 16°C on Wed morning, min 11°C on Thu night). Winds increasing (calm on Thu morning, fresh winds from the W by Thu night). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 4mm), mostly falling on Sat morning. Very mild (max 14°C on Sat morning, min 10°C on Mon night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the NW on Sat night, calm by Mon night). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday 29 | Thursday 30 | Friday 31 | Saturday 1 | Sunday 2 | Monday 3 | Tuesday 4 | |||||||||||||||
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) | W 9 | WNW 8 | NNW 8 | NNW 8 | NW 7 | W 6 | WNW 7 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | N 8 | NW 8 | NW 8 | N 11 | N 11 | N 10 | N 10 | N 9 | N 9 | N 9 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 670 | 264 | 98 | 99 | 75 | 243 | 276 | 151 | 144 | 155 | 117 | 144 | 486 | 624 | 1293 | 1029 | 768 | 484 | 280 | 234 | 125 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | cross | off | cross-off | on | cross-off | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-on | cross-on | glassy | cross-on | glassy |
High Tide | 9:42PM4.80m | 10:12AM4.53m | 10:14PM4.89m | 10:43AM4.59m | 10:44PM4.94m | 11:14AM4.61m | 11:15PM4.95m | 11:46AM4.59m | 11:48PM4.91m | 12:20PM4.52m | 00:23AM4.81m | 12:59PM4.42m | 1:04AM4.67m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 3:30PM1.78m | 3:58AM1.44m | 4:04PM1.69m | 4:30AM1.35m | 4:37PM1.63m | 5:03AM1.31m | 5:10PM1.63m | 5:36AM1.32m | 5:43PM1.68m | 6:12AM1.38m | 6:19PM1.78m | 6:50AM1.50m | 6:59PM1.93m | ||||||||
 |  |  | | | |  |  |  |  | | | | | | | |  | | | | |
 | 4:56 | — | — | 4:58 | — | — | 5:00 | — | — | 5:01 | — | — | 5:03 | — | — | 5:07 | — | — | 5:09 | — | — |
 | — | — | 9:44 | — | — | 9:42 | — | — | 9:38 | — | — | 9:37 | — | — | 9:35 | — | — | 9:32 | — | — | 9:30 |
mm | — | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 16 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 11 |
Feels °C | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | N 9 | WNW 8 | NNW 8 | NNW 8 | N 8 | N 8 | N 7 | N 7 | N 7 | N 8 | NNW 8 | N 8 | — | — | N 11 | N 11 | N 10 | N 10 | N 9 | N 9 | N 9 |
| kJ | 76 | 264 | 98 | 99 | 57 | 42 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 84 | 115 | 144 | — | — | 1293 | 1029 | 768 | 484 | 280 | 234 | 125 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | N 9 | W 8 | W 8 | — | — | — | — | N 11 | N 9 | N 9 | W 9 | — | — | W 10 | — | WNW 6 | W 9 | W 9 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 |
| kJ | — | 55 | 78 | 40 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | — | — | 8 | — | 12 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 5 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | NW 11 | N 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 11 | W 10 | — | — | — | — | — | W 9 | W 9 | WNW 6 | W 9 | W 9 |
| kJ | — | 18 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | W 9 | — | — | — | NW 7 | W 6 | WNW 7 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | WNW 6 | NW 8 | NW 8 | W 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 670 | — | — | — | 75 | 243 | 276 | 151 | 144 | 155 | 117 | 45 | 486 | 624 | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 141 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 412 | 424 | 1181 | 21 | 810 | 964 | 83 | 287 | 183 | 45 | 45 | 139 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Scotland - North Coast | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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