The Maze (Tiree) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what the next couple of weeks are serving up for The Maze on Tiree. Gotta be straight with you: this is a tough one. The swell is there, no doubt about it, but the wind gods are having a laugh. We’ve got a long stretch ahead with very little that’s actually rideable, so patience is the name of the game.

Right from the get-go on Thursday the 10th, it’s a no-go. We’ve got a 4 ft swell but with a screaming 31 mph SSE wind, it’s a mess. The energy is weak (190), so don’t even bother. Through Friday and Saturday, the swell builds – we’re looking at 7 to 10 ft from the W and WSW with moderate to strong energy (799 up to 3971) – but the wind is relentless, cross-on and fresh. Saturday morning the 12th looks especially ugly with 10 ft and a 22 mph WNW cross-off, but the cross-on wind chops it all up. This stretch is blown out.

We finally get a tiny glimmer on Sunday morning the 13th. The swell drops to 4 ft from the WNW with a long 11-second period, and the wind eases to a light 6 mph cross-on from the SSW. The energy is moderate (611), but it’s only a 1/10. It’s real marginal, but if you’re desperate and the tide lines up, there might be a grovelly wave. Monday through Wednesday stays pretty poor.

Now, Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th show some promise, but it’s still a struggle. Thursday morning we’ve got a solid 8 ft swell from the W with an 11-second period and moderate energy (1301). The wind is cross-shore around 12 mph, leaving a bit of a cross-chop. It’s a 2/10 – better than the zeros, but still a session for the committed local only. Friday the 18th sees the swell drop to 6 ft, still from the W, but the wind goes cross-on.

But hold on. The real standout, if you can call it that, is way out there. Look at Wednesday the 23rd into Thursday the 24th. That’s the biggest swell of the window – we’re talking an 12 ft to 13 ft groundswell from the W with a very long 14 to 16-second period. The energy is massive, 7071 on Wednesday afternoon. But here’s the kicker: the wind is howling onshore from the WSW at 25-34 mph. For a beach and point setup like The Maze, that’s going to be a complete, unsurfable mess. This is heavy-duty, expert-only territory in the wrong wind. It looks more like a kite session than a paddle session, if you ask me, but that’s not for us.

So, bottom line: there is no true "best" day in this 16-day run. The wind is the enemy. The closest we get to a recommendation is the early morning of Sunday the 13th for a tiny, clean-ish wave, and maybe Thursday the 17th morning for a bumpy but bigger option. The rest is a write-off. It’s a long, frustrating gap until the end of the period, and even that is a gale-force disaster. I wish I had better news.

Rusty.

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