Trincomalee Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Ah, mate. Look, I’ve been staring at the charts for Trincomalee and, well, I’ve got to be straight with you – this is a tough one. There’s nothing in the 16-day window that’s worth paddling out for. The whole stretch is a flat spell with no real surf on offer. The first good recommendation? It never comes. Every single day from the start of August through to the 16th has the wave comment flagged as “poor surf conditions” and a score of zero. That's a long, blank run.

Now, the water temp is sitting at a nice warm 83°F for the first Saturday morning, which is about 0.9°F above average for this time of year – nothing too unusual, just a touch of tropical warmth. But without any swell, it doesn’t matter.

Trincomalee is a sheltered point break that’s rated for beginners, but it rarely breaks at the best of times. It’s very sheltered to swell, and the optimum direction here is from the south. What we’ve got over the whole period is a mix of tiny SE and SSE swells, mostly under 2 ft, with periods all over the place – mostly short, miserable 8 to 10 seconds, and a few lanky, long-period 14 to 21 second pulses that would be way too inconsistent for this setup. The combined wave energy barely cracks 100 (we see it hit 145 on the 9th of August afternoon, and 105 on the 11th of August afternoon), and even those are just moderate energy at best, not enough to make a wave.

The wind is mostly a cross-off from the WSW or W, blowing at 15 to 25 mph, which is a stiff breeze to fresh breeze. It’s not helping the tiny swell. There’s a morning on the 2nd of August with a light offshore from the west at 6 mph, and the afternoon goes glassy with a 3 mph from the north – that would be clean as a whistle, but there’s only 1 ft of swell to work with. It’s not happening.

Don’t lose hope, though. Trincomalee is a point break, and when it does get a proper south swell, it can line up. This is just a lull. Forecasts can change, and a blank run like this is more normal for a very sheltered spot. Keep an eye on the long-range – if that south swell fills in, we might have something. But for now, leave the boards in the shed.

Rusty.

Read more