The Breakwater-St Ives Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the next couple of weeks.

It’s a tough stretch ahead, I’m not gonna lie. The Breakwater-St Ives is your only real option, and for the first week and a half, it’s basically a write-off. We’ve got a long, dry spell of poor surf conditions that runs from Friday the 14th of August all the way through to the morning of Tuesday the 25th of August. That’s a solid 11-day gap where there’s just nothing worth paddling out for. The swell is there, but it’s either weak, short-period, or blown out by onshore and cross-onshore winds from the west and north-west. The water temp is sitting at 65°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least you don’t need a winter hood, but that’s about the only silver lining.

Finally, by Wednesday the 26th of August, things start to look a little more interesting. The morning sees a clean 4 ft swell from the west-northwest with a period of 11 seconds, and a light offshore cross-off breeze from the south-southwest (9 mph). The energy is moderate (455). The wave comment says it’s marginal due to tide, but it’s the best we’ve seen. The afternoon cleans up even more with a proper offshore wind from the south-southwest at 16 mph, making for clean conditions on the same 4 ft west swell (10-second period, 324 energy). This is your standout window. The swell direction is west, which is a touch off the optimum north-west, but it’s workable for this point break. The break is inconsistent, so don’t expect a wave every minute, but when they come, they’ll be clean.

Thursday the 27th of August stays clean in the morning, with a 4 ft west swell (9 seconds, 281 energy) and a cross-off breeze, but the energy drops a bit. The afternoon gets a strong breeze (28 mph) from the southwest, which cleans it up but makes it gnarly.

Looking further out, Saturday the 29th of August has a morning window with a light cross-off breeze and a 3 ft west-southwest swell (7 seconds, 172 energy) – surfable but nothing special. The afternoon brings a 4 ft swell from the southwest with a very long 15-second period and a massive 713 energy reading. That’s a lot of power, but the cross-shore breeze (9 mph) will put a slight chop on it. Long-period swells can be tricky at beach breaks, but The Breakwater is a point, so it should handle it.

So, the real standout is Wednesday the 26th of August, especially the afternoon session. It’s the cleanest, most rideable conditions we’ll get in this whole 16-day run. Get on it if you can.

Rusty.

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