The Breakwater-St Ives Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board and listen up. Rusty here.

Well, I gotta be straight with you—it’s a tough stretch ahead for The Breakwater-St Ives. We’re looking at a real dry spell for nearly a week and a half, so don’t get your hopes up just yet. From now through most of next week, we’ve got poor surf and cross-shore winds locking it up. It’s going to be frustrating.

The first day that shows any real promise isn’t until Wednesday the 26th of August. That morning, we get a clean window with a light cross-offshore breeze from the SW and a solid 7ft swell rolling in from the WSW. The wave energy jumps up to a decent moderate level (983), and the water temp sits at about 64°, which is pretty average for this time of year—nothing out of the ordinary. The swell period is around 8 seconds, so it’s not a long-period groundswell, but the conditions should be clean enough for a proper session. It’s the best the forecast has to offer for a while.

Then on Thursday morning the 27th, early doors are looking glassy with a slight air, 4ft from the SW, and clean cross-off winds. It’s not huge, but it’ll be rideable and tidy. Keep an eye on Friday the 28th too—the morning shows a 10ft swell from the WSW, but that’s getting into expert territory. The afternoon cleans up nicely with 6ft and light cross-off winds, which could be a standout session if you can pick the right bank.

The real highlight, though, might be Sunday the 30th of August. We’ve got 8ft of west swell pushing through with a period of 9 seconds, and—get this—glassy conditions. That’s proper glass. The wave energy is strong (1006), so there’s plenty of push. Just bear in mind, at that size it’s probably too much for beginners. For the experienced crowd, that Sunday afternoon is the pick of the whole run. The break is a point, so it should handle that west swell nicely.

Other than that, the second week has a few moments—like the 28th afternoon and the 30th—but this isn’t a spot you want to be watching every day. The consistency is low and it rarely breaks clean, so when it does come together, you gotta be on it. If the wind turns onshore, it’s just not worth paddling out.

If you’re after a kite session, the run of strong cross-shore winds and lumpy chop from the 19th to the 22nd might be more your speed, but for surfing, patience is the name of the game.

Keep it between the flags, and see you out there when it cleans up.

Rusty

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