Surf Forecasts:
The Bowl surf forecast from 7 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Tuesday 7 Jul, 10AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 9s period, W swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Thursday 9 Jul, 7PM (local time) - 5ft (1.6m), 9s period, W swell with 389 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 7 Jul, 10AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 9s 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 Tuesday (Jul 07) at 10AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.1m and 9s period with a secondary swell of 0.8m 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 1.6m 9s and forecast to arrive on Thursday (Jul 09) at 7PM. Winds are predicted to be glassy at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.3m 2s period and expected on Thursday (Jul 09) at 7AM.
| Wave Type | Time (BST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 10AM (Tue 7th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 9s |
| Best Surf | 10AM (Tue 7th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 9s |
| Most Powerful | 7PM (Thu 9th Jul) | 5ft (1.6m) 9s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for The Bowl over the next 16 days.
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Alright mates, Rusty here. Let’s break down what’s cookin’ for the next couple weeks.
Right off the bat, we’ve got a short burst of good waves, then a long dry spell. The first few days have some clean, head-high-ish surf at The Bowl, but after that it goes quiet for days. A little pulse might show up around the 20th, but don’t hold your breath.
Tuesday July 7th is the pick. The Bowl is a reef, for advanced crew only, and it breaks pretty consistently. Swell is a clean 4ft from the West with a 9-second period—moderate energy (264). Light rain and a slight cross-off breeze from the ESE at 3 mph keeps the surface glassy. Tuesday afternoon is even better: dead calm, glassy, and still a solid 3ft West swell. This is your best bet. Water temp is about normal for this time of year. Just keep an eye out—crowds can show up here.
Wednesday July 8th gets rough. Morning has a cross-shore wind from the West at 9 mph, putting a bit of chop on the same size swell. Afternoon bumps up to 5ft, but with a cross-shore WNW wind, the surface won’t be clean. Tides or conditions are iffy.
Thursday July 9th morning cleans up again: 4ft West swell with a light cross-off breeze from the SW at 6 mph. That’s your second-best window. Afternoon hits 5ft but it’s onshore from the NNW, and the wave state looks messy—skip it.
From Friday July 10th, it’s downhill. Small, weak, choppy waves. Energy levels drop fast. Saturday the 11th is barely surfable with a 4ft West swell but onshore wind. By Sunday the 12th, we’re down to 3ft and fading.
The whole second week, from around the 13th to the 19th, is mostly flat. Some days have clean cross-off winds but the swell is tiny, around 1ft to 2ft, with short periods. Energy is in the double digits—just not enough to ride.
Monday July 20th morning gives a little hope: a 3ft N swell with a clean cross-off ESE breeze. Energy is 149, so it’s surfable, but it’s ordinary. Nothing like the start of the week.
Bottom line: hit Tuesday or Thursday morning this week if you can. After that, it’s a long wait. The 20th might offer a token wave, but that’s it.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 10mm), heaviest on Mon night. Warm (max 20°C on Thu morning, min 11°C on Mon night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummarySome drizzle, heaviest during Fri morning. Very mild (max 17°C on Thu night, min 10°C on Fri morning). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 7 | Wednesday 8 | Thursday 9 | Friday 10 | Saturday 11 | Sunday 12 | Monday 13 | |||||||||||||||
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 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 11 | W 10 | W 10 | W 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | W 8 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 184 | 159 | 332 | 201 | 334 | 332 | 229 | 351 | 184 | 74 | 388 | 326 | 267 | 199 | 126 | 87 | 60 | 57 | 42 | 42 | 46 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | glassy | cross | cross | cross | glassy | cross-off | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | on | glassy | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross-on | on | cross-off |
High Tide | 2:30PM4.17m | 2:32AM4.42m | 3:28PM4.15m | 3:34AM4.35m | 4:32PM4.19m | 4:44AM4.32m | 5:39PM4.30m | 5:57AM4.37m | 6:43PM4.48m | 7:09AM4.50m | 7:42PM4.70m | 8:15AM4.66m | 8:36PM4.92m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 8:10AM1.79m | 8:23PM2.27m | 9:06AM1.88m | 9:27PM2.34m | 10:13AM1.93m | 10:45PM2.31m | 11:26AM1.91m | 00:02AM2.14m | 12:33PM1.81m | 1:08AM1.85m | 1:33PM1.67m | 2:06AM1.53m | 2:27PM1.53m | 2:58AM1.22m | |||||||
 | |  |  |  |  | |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | 4:16 | — | — | 4:18 | — | — | 4:18 | — | — | 4:20 | — | — | 4:22 | — | — | 4:24 | — | — | 4:24 | — | — |
 | — | — | 10:20 | — | — | 10:19 | — | — | 10:17 | — | — | 10:16 | — | — | 10:15 | — | — | 10:14 | — | — | 10:13 |
mm | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 12 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Feels °C | 12 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | W 9 | W 9 | N 7 | W 9 | NNE 6 | W 9 | W 9 | NNE 10 | W 9 | W 9 | W 11 | W 10 | W 10 | W 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | W 8 |
| kJ | 184 | 159 | 37 | 201 | 14 | 332 | 229 | 31 | 184 | 74 | 388 | 326 | 267 | 199 | 126 | 87 | 60 | 57 | 42 | 42 | 46 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | N 8 | N 7 | NNE 8 | N 7 | N 6 | N 7 | NNE 10 | NNE 10 | NNE 9 | W 12 | NNE 8 | NNE 8 | N 8 | NE 8 | NE 7 | N 7 | N 7 | — | W 21 | — | WNW 13 |
| kJ | 80 | 54 | 7 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 33 | 19 | 17 | 73 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 9 | — | 33 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | N 12 | — | — | — | NNE 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NNW 6 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | W 9 | WNW 5 | W 9 | — | — | W 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | 332 | 39 | 334 | — | — | 351 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 63 | 34 | 7 | 34 | 16 | 0 | 207 | 183 | 17 | 34 | 207 | 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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