Surf Forecasts:
Thurso Reef surf forecast from 11 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Monday 13 Jul, 7AM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.5m), 7s period, W swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Tuesday 14 Jul, 1PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 12s period, WNW swell with 288 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Monday 13 Jul, 7AM (local time) - 1.5ft (0.5m), 7s period with W swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Thurso Reef this week:
The surf forecast for Thurso Reef over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Monday (Jul 13) at 7AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.5m and 7s period with a secondary swell of 0.3m and 9s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Thurso Reef in the next 16 days are 1.0m 12s and forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Jul 14) at 1PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.5m 4s period and expected on Thursday (Jul 16) at 10PM.
| Wave Type | Time (BST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 7AM (Mon 13th Jul) | 1.5ft (0.5m) 7s |
| Best Surf | 7AM (Mon 13th Jul) | 1.5ft (0.5m) 7s |
| Most Powerful | 1PM (Tue 14th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 12s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Thurso Reef over the next 16 days.
Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s coming up for Thurso Reef.
Honestly, the next week and a half is a bit of a flat spell. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak, and often messy surf from now until around the 20th of July. The swell energy is mostly feeble, with numbers like 70 (moderate wave energy) dropping down to as low as 14 (weak wave energy) through the middle of the week. Winds are a mixed bag of cross and cross-onshore, keeping things choppy and uninviting. There’s a brief bright spot on the morning of Thursday the 16th, with clean conditions and a light cross-offshore breeze, but with the swell at just 1.0ft and a period of 8 seconds, it’s barely a ripple. Not worth paddling out for.
The real action, and the only standout window, arrives on the 20th of July. Monday afternoon sees a sudden jump in size – a 7ft swell from the WNW, with a period of 8 seconds, and a combined energy of 563 (strong wave energy). The wind goes light and cross-offshore, cleaning things right up. That’s the pick of the forecast. It’s a solid size for the reef, good for intermediate surfers, and with the light breeze, it’s going to be clean. The swell direction is WNW, which is a touch off the optimum NW direction, but it’s still a great setup.
Tuesday the 21st stays big, with a 8ft WNW swell (9 seconds, 814 energy), again clean in the morning with a cross-offshore wind, but the tide might be a factor. It’s still a solid option for the intermediate crew.
Now, a heads-up for the 22nd of July: the swell pumps up to 10ft from the WNW, with a period of 10 seconds and a massive energy of 1856. That’s a lot of power. The wind is light and cross-onshore, but the forecast flat-out says the swell is too big for this break. That’s expert-only territory, and even then, it’s borderline. After that, the swell winds down and the cross-shore winds return, closing out the run.
So, for the whole 16-day window, your best bet is Monday the 20th of July afternoon. Get on it while it’s clean and solid. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual there.
Stay stoked, and I’ll see you in the lineup.
Rusty
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Very mild (max 15°C on Mon morning, min 11°C on Sat morning). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Warm (max 21°C on Thu morning, min 14°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 11 | Sunday 12 | Monday 13 | Tuesday 14 | Wednesday 15 | Thursday 16 | Friday 17 | |||||||||||||||
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 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | W 8 | W 7 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | W 8 | W 12 | W 11 | W 10 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 8 | W 8 | W 9 | W 8 | W 8 | W 10 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 267 | 203 | 129 | 70 | 44 | 28 | 37 | 34 | 29 | 106 | 247 | 127 | 63 | 39 | 25 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 50 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross-on | cross | cross | cross | cross-off | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off |
High Tide | 6:43PM4.48m | 7:09AM4.50m | 7:42PM4.70m | 8:15AM4.66m | 8:36PM4.92m | 9:14AM4.82m | 9:27PM5.10m | 10:07AM4.91m | 10:14PM5.21m | 10:57AM4.92m | 10:59PM5.25m | 11:45AM4.85m | 11:44PM5.19m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 12:33PM1.81m | 1:08AM1.85m | 1:33PM1.67m | 2:06AM1.53m | 2:27PM1.53m | 2:58AM1.22m | 3:16PM1.44m | 3:47AM0.99m | 4:03PM1.40m | 4:34AM0.87m | 4:47PM1.44m | 5:20AM0.88m | 5:31PM1.54m | ||||||||
 |  |  |  | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |
 | 4:22 | — | — | 4:24 | — | — | 4:24 | — | — | 4:26 | — | — | 4:28 | — | — | 4:30 | — | — | 4:31 | — | — |
 | — | — | 10:15 | — | — | 10:14 | — | — | 10:12 | — | — | 10:10 | — | — | 10:08 | — | — | 10:07 | — | — | 10:06 |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
Temp °C | 11 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 17 |
Feels °C | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 16 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | W 10 | W 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | W 8 | W 7 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | W 8 | WNW 10 | W 11 | W 10 | W 9 | W 9 | W 9 | W 8 | W 8 | W 9 | W 8 | W 8 | W 10 |
| kJ | 267 | 203 | 129 | 70 | 44 | 28 | 37 | 34 | 29 | 96 | 247 | 127 | 63 | 39 | 25 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 50 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | N 8 | N 8 | NE 7 | — | NNW 6 | NE 7 | NE 6 | NE 7 | WNW 10 | W 12 | — | W 18 | W 18 | — | — | — | N 10 | N 9 | N 9 | WNW 11 | SE 6 |
| kJ | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 106 | — | 6 | 6 | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 1 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 21 | — | W 14 | E 5 | — | W 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 13 | N 8 | N 8 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | 15 | 1 | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 5 | 1 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | E 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ESE 2 | ESE 2 | ESE 2 | ESE 3 | ESE 3 | ESE 3 | ESE 3 | SE 3 | SE 3 | SE 3 | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 170 | 9 | 184 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 184 | 184 | 866 | 180 | 375 | 24 | 51 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Scotland - North Coast | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Thurso Reef 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 Thurso Reef Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Thurso Reef provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Thurso Reef can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Thurso Reef 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 (Thurso Reef) 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 Thurso Reef 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 Thurso Reef, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in Scotland - North Coast, consider staying in Scrabster which is 2 km (1 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 31 km (19 miles) away, Kirkwall and Lossiemouth.
Nearest