West Wittering Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer for West Wittering over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, mate, it’s a bit of a grim picture. The whole 16-day window is a write-off for paddle surfing. There’s nothing worth getting excited about, and the water’s unusually warm – way above what you’d expect for early September, coming in at 69°, which is more than three degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. That’s a real head-scratcher.

The main problem is a complete lack of any proper swell. We’ve got a persistent run of onshore and cross-onshore winds, mostly from the west and southwest, just killing any chance of shape. The first few days, Thursday the 3rd through the weekend, are all poor. Swells are tiny, mostly under 3 ft, with periods so short – down to 4 or 5 seconds – there’s no push behind them. The wind is fresh and messy, making for lumpy, choppy conditions.

There is a brief moment around Sunday the 6th afternoon where the wind swings southeast and goes light, offering a clean, cross-off breeze. But the swell is only 2 ft from the southeast with a 4-second period – barely a ripple, and the wave energy is negligible. Not worth paddling out for.

Midweek the following week is more of the same: stronger westerly winds and tiny, weak swells. The energy readings are pathetic – mostly in the single digits or teens. The Friday (11th) and Saturday (12th) are also flat, with no improvement.

Into the second week, things get even smaller. We see some cleaner days – Monday the 14th and Tuesday the 15th have light or offshore breezes, with the water going glassy on the morning of the 16th. But the swell heights are 4 inches to 8 inches, with longer periods around 9-11 seconds. That’s a groundswell pulse, but there’s no height to it. The energy is still pitiful. It’ll look like a lake.

Even the long-range Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th offer nothing. Strong onshore winds and zero swell energy. The combined energy values never break out of the single or low double digits – always below 100, confirming how weak the whole period is.

West Wittering is a sheltered, inconsistent beach-and-groyne setup, so it relies on a good SW groundswell with light winds. That just isn’t happening. For a surfer, there’s no point even looking at it. If I were you, I’d be checking if the kites are flying somewhere else, because there’s nothing here for a paddle board.

Rusty.

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