Surf Forecasts:
The Cove surf forecast from 4 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Tuesday 7 Jul, 1PM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 9s period, W swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Tuesday 7 Jul, 1AM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 8s period, W swell with 849 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Sunday 5 Jul, 7PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 9s period with WNW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for The Cove this week:
The surf forecast for The Cove over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Sunday (Jul 05) at 7PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.0m and 9s period. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at The Cove in the next 16 days are 2.5m 8s and forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Jul 07) at 1AM. 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+) | 7PM (Sun 5th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 9s |
| Best Surf | 1PM (Tue 7th Jul) | 5ft (1.5m) 9s |
| Most Powerful | 1AM (Tue 7th Jul) | 8ft (2.5m) 8s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for The Cove over the next 16 days.
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Righto, let’s have a look at what’s on the table. The Cove is the only spot showing any real promise in the 16-day window, and even then, it’s a short-lived window of opportunity. Saturday the 4th of July is where the action is, with a solid pulse of west swell, then the week ahead goes quiet pretty fast.
Saturday morning at The Cove, we’re looking at a solid 6ft of west swell, with a 10-second period that’s got some decent energy behind it – the combined energy reading of 627 is in the moderate-to-strong bracket. The wind is offshore from the SSW at 12 mph, keeping things clean. Water temp is 54°, which is bang on average for this time of year – no surprises there. This is the standout, the one to point the car towards. It’s a reef break that’s fairly consistent, and it’s exposed to that NW optimum direction, so even though the swell is from the west, it’ll pull in nicely. Crowds are possible here now and then, but on a Saturday morning like this, it might be worth getting there early.
Saturday afternoon sees the wind swing to the west at 19 mph, turning it cross and messy – poor conditions, so don’t bother. Sunday the 5th calms right down. Morning has a cross wind and only 4ft of swell, marginal at best, and the afternoon goes glassy with a 4ft west-northwest swell, but it’s just ordinary.
From Monday the 6th onward, it’s a sad story. There’s a gap of many days with no decent surf. The swell drops off hard, the wind is mostly cross or cross-on, and the energy readings fall into the weak category – by midweek you’re looking at values like 19, 33, 46. There’s a brief moment on Thursday the 9th morning with 3ft swell and glassy wind from the NE, but the energy is low (170) and the conditions are only surfable, not good. Not worth getting excited about.
The rest of the run into the second week is flat and ugly. No quality waves to speak of, consistent poor readings across the board. It’s a classic case of one good morning and then a long, dry spell. So make the most of Saturday morning at The Cove, because after that, we’re waiting for a change.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 12mm), heaviest on Mon morning. Very mild (max 15°C on Mon morning, min 11°C on Sat night). Winds increasing (calm on Sun night, strong winds from the WSW by Mon afternoon). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryModerate rain (total 14mm), heaviest on Tue morning. Warm (max 22°C on Thu morning, min 13°C on Tue morning). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 4 | Sunday 5 | Monday 6 | Tuesday 7 | Wednesday 8 | Thursday 9 | Friday 10 | |||||||||||||||
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 10 | W 10 | WNW 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | W 9 | W 7 | W 8 | W 8 | W 6 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 10 | W 11 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 618 | 724 | 383 | 243 | 189 | 120 | 73 | 380 | 849 | 403 | 244 | 399 | 270 | 129 | 229 | 148 | 152 | 148 | 80 | 313 | 319 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | cross | cross | cross | on | glassy | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-on | off | glassy | on | cross-off | glassy | cross-on | cross-on |
High Tide | 12:16PM4.34m | 00:15AM4.66m | 12:55PM4.28m | 00:54AM4.60m | 1:39PM4.22m | 1:39AM4.51m | 2:30PM4.17m | 2:32AM4.42m | 3:28PM4.15m | 3:34AM4.35m | 4:32PM4.19m | 4:44AM4.32m | 5:39PM4.30m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 6:08PM1.95m | 6:41AM1.62m | 6:47PM2.05m | 7:22AM1.70m | 7:31PM2.16m | 8:10AM1.79m | 8:23PM2.27m | 9:06AM1.88m | 9:27PM2.34m | 10:13AM1.93m | 10:45PM2.31m | 11:26AM1.91m | 00:02AM2.14m | ||||||||
 |  |  |  | |  |  | | |  | | | |  |  | | | | | |  | |
 | 4:13 | — | — | 4:13 | — | — | 4:15 | — | — | 4:16 | — | — | 4:18 | — | — | 4:18 | — | — | 4:20 | — | — |
 | — | — | 10:22 | — | — | 10:22 | — | — | 10:21 | — | — | 10:20 | — | — | 10:19 | — | — | 10:17 | — | — | 10:16 |
mm | 2 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — |
Temp °C | 14 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 12 |
Feels °C | 11 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 14 | 8 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | W 10 | — | WNW 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | W 9 | N 8 | N 10 | W 8 | N 8 | N 8 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 10 | W 11 |
| kJ | 618 | — | 383 | 243 | 189 | 120 | 73 | 32 | 96 | 403 | 86 | 41 | 270 | 129 | 229 | 148 | 152 | 148 | 80 | 313 | 319 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | N 5 | N 9 | — | — | N 9 | — | — | N 7 | N 7 | NNE 6 | NNE 6 | NNE 7 | NNE 8 | WNW 11 | NNE 9 | NNE 9 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 39 | — | — | 101 | — | — | 40 | 26 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 43 | 8 | 8 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | N 12 | NNE 10 | NNE 9 | — | NNE 8 | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 10 | 17 | — | 6 | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 2 | W 10 | — | — | — | — | — | W 7 | W 8 | — | W 6 | W 9 | — | W 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | NW 3 |
| kJ | 1 | 724 | — | — | — | — | — | 380 | 849 | — | 244 | 399 | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 832 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 370 | 531 | 21 | 20 | 143 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 34 | 34 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Scotland - North Coast | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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 Cove 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 Cove Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for The Cove provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at The Cove can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our The Cove 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 Cove) 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 Cove 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 Cove, 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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