Westward Ho Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a proper look at what’s happening at Westward Ho over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, looking at the whole 16-day window, I gotta be straight with you: it’s a pretty grim run. The forecast is a long, drawn-out stretch of small, weak, and messy conditions. There’s barely a window that’s worth paddling out for, and the first real chance of anything half-decent doesn’t roll in until the second week.

We’re starting off with a real dud. Monday the 27th of July sees a small 4 ft swell from the west, but it’s a short period of 7 seconds and that cross-on shore wind is making a proper mess of things. The wave energy is weak (130). It’s just poor. Tuesday and Wednesday are even smaller – we’re talking knee-high dribble at best, with the swell dropping to 1 ft. The wind stays cross-on, so it’s just choppy and uninviting. There’s a real dry spell from the 27th through to the 31st of July, with nothing but poor surf ratings. On the 31st, the swell tries to push up to 5 ft from the WNW, but the wind is howling cross-on at 12 to 16 mph, and the combined energy is moderate (181). It’s just too messy to get excited about.

Moving into the start of August, it’s still tiny. The morning of Sunday the 2nd has a clean window with offshore winds from the ESE, but the swell is only 1 ft. You’d be struggling to find a ripple. The following Monday morning, the 3rd, has a moderate offshore breeze but again, the swell is a pathetic 1 ft. It’s all surface chop.

Now, the only thing that even looks like a pulse shows up on Friday the 7th of August. We’ve got a 5 ft to 5 ft swell from the west-southwest, with a period of 7 seconds. The morning of the 7th has a light breeze, but it’s still cross-on, and the wave energy is moderate (189). The afternoon gets a bit bigger, hitting 5 ft from the west, but the wind picks up to a moderate cross-on. It’s still labelled as poor, and the energy climbs to 269. It’s slightly better than the rest, but it’s not clean.

The standout, if you can call it that, is the morning of Saturday the 8th of August. The swell holds at 5 ft from the west, period is a slightly better 8 seconds, and the wind is a light cross-on breeze. The wave energy is the highest we’ll see at 290, and the forecast calls it a “marginal” window. It’s the only day in the entire run that gets above a zero score. For a beginner spot like Westward Ho, 5 ft can be a bit of a handful, but it’s not too big. The disappointment is that it’s still cross-on, so it won’t be the clean, peeling lines you’d hope for. It’s your best bet, but it’s a long shot.

After that, it falls apart again. The 9th and 10th of August see the swell drop back down to 4 ft to 5 ft, with fresh cross-on winds and rain showers making it lumpy. By the 11th, the wind is a strong breeze from the north-northwest at 25 mph, and while the swell is 4 ft, it’s just messy and blown out.

So, the bottom line: we’ve got a long, flat, and choppy run. The only real window with a glimmer of hope is the morning of Saturday the 8th of August. It’s not perfect, but it’s the only time the swell has any size and the wind isn’t wrecking it completely. For the rest of it, you’re better off checking the forecast again next week.

Rusty.

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