Thurso Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at the Thurso Beach surf. It’s gonna be a bit of a mixed bag over the next couple of weeks, but there are a couple of sessions that’ll get your blood pumping.

The water temp is sitting at 56°F, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so nothing unusual there.

We kick things off with a poor start. The first few days are a write-off, with Wednesday the 9th and Thursday the 10th offering very little. There’s a weak, short-period swell around 3ft from the west, but the wind is messy. You’ll be looking at a lot of chop and crumbly lines. Not worth paddling out for.

Friday the 11th gets a bit bigger, with the swell picking up to 7ft - 7ft from the west, but again the wind is a problem. It’s cross-shore and fresh, so it’s going to be lumpy and hard to get a clean ride. The combined energy is getting up there (802) by the afternoon, but it’s just not well organised for Thurso.

Now, the real standout is Saturday, 12th September. This is the best on offer, and it’s only for the experienced crew. We’ve got a solid 10ft groundswell from the WNW with a very long period of 13 seconds (combined energy of 2829). That’s a powerful, well-travelled swell. The morning has clean, offshore winds from the south, so the waves should be epic, but at 10ft, this is proper size – experts only. It’ll be a bit heavy and a long period groundswell like this might bowl up pretty fast, but with that offshore wind, it’s going to be a session to remember if you’ve got the nerve.

Sunday the 13th drops back a notch, with 7ft from the WNW and a long 11-second period, but it’s cross-shore and not as clean. It’s surfable but nothing special.

Monday the 14th is a nice little window. The swell has dropped to 4ft, but it’s from the NNW with a long period of 11 seconds, and we get clean offshore winds from the SSE. This is a good one for beginners and intermediates – waist-to-chest high, clean, and not too crowded sometimes. Combined energy is a moderate (616).

We then go into another poor run from Tuesday the 15th through to the middle of the next week. The wind goes onshore or cross-shore again, and while there’s the occasional bump in size, the conditions are too messy to recommend.

The next real highlight is Friday, 18th September. Another beauty on the way. We’ve got a 7ft swell from the west, with a long 12-second period, and the morning is glassy with gentle offshore winds from the south. The combined energy is strong at (1457). This is excellent for experienced surfers again, but the size and the clean conditions make it a top pick. The afternoon stays clean too, with a light breeze.

After that, it’s a bit of a fade-out. The weekend of the 19th and 20th is poor with cross/onshore winds and lumpy surf. Monday the 21st has a small window of clean, offshore wind with 5ft from the west, but nothing special.

From Tuesday the 22nd right through to the end of the forecast on the 24th, it’s a disaster. Strong to gale-force winds and messy, blown-out surf. The combined energy is weak, and the wind is just howling. Honestly, that setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

So, in short: the standout is Saturday 12th September for the big-wave crew, and Friday 18th September for a more manageable but still solid session. Everything else is a bit of a gamble or a no-go.

Rusty.

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