The Breakwater-St Ives Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s a pretty grim stretch ahead. The Breakwater-St Ives is the only spot in the picture, and it’s shaping up to be a real test of patience. The whole 16-day window is basically a write-off for decent surf. From Wednesday the 22nd of July right through to Thursday the 6th of August, every single session is marked as poor surf conditions. That’s a long, dry spell. The water temp is sitting at 64°, which is about normal for this time of year, nothing to get excited about there.

The first few days are a total non-starter. Wednesday afternoon the 22nd has a tiny 3ft swell from the north, but it’s a short-period 5-second windswell with a northerly wind blowing straight onshore at 15 mph. The combined energy is a weak 76. It’s messy, it’s weak, and it’s not worth paddling out for. Thursday and Friday are even smaller, with swell dropping to 3ft and 2ft, and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore, just keeping everything chopped up. The energy numbers are pathetic, down in the 20s and 30s.

The weekend of the 25th and 26th sees a bit more size but it’s all wind. Saturday the 25th afternoon has a 4ft swell from the WNW, but with a fresh 19 mph cross-shore wind, it’s just lumpy cross-chop. Sunday the 26th morning actually pushes 7ft from the WNW, with a period of 8 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 822 – moderate – but that’s still a fresh cross-onshore wind at 19 mph. At 7ft, it’s getting too big for beginners, and with that wind, it’s just a messy, blown-out wall. You’d need to be an expert to even think about it, and even then, it’s not going to be fun.

The following week is just more of the same. Some clean-ish conditions appear on the 4th, 5th and 6th of August, with solid offshore winds from the south and southwest, blowing at 12 to 22 mph. But the swell is tiny – 2ft to 2ft – with a 9 to 11-second period. The energy is low, between 57 and 122. The wind is offshore, which is a positive, but there’s simply no power in the water. The Breakwater is a point break, so a longer period swell like that (11 seconds on the 5th) would usually favour it, but with no height, it’s just a flat, clean line.

There’s nothing here that could be called a standout. The best you could say is that the 4th, 5th and 6th of August offer clean, glassy-looking conditions from the offshore wind, but the swell is too small to do anything with. For a beach setup, this would be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, given the consistent wind. For now, it’s a case of waiting for a proper swell to arrive. Forecasts can change, but this one’s looking pretty locked in as a bust.

Rusty.

Read more