Westward Ho Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s on the cards for the next stretch.

Honestly, I’ve been staring at this forecast and it’s a bit of a tough one. We’ve got a long, quiet spell on the horizon. There’s no real surf to speak of right now, and the outlook is pretty grim for the first week or so. The swell is consistently tiny, with heights barely scraping 3 ft, and the periods are short and weak. The wave energy is pathetic, often sitting in the single digits or low teens. It’s a real waiting game.

For the first few days, from Saturday the 18th right through to the end of the week, you’re looking at flukey little waves. Most of the time the wind is all wrong – cross-shore, cross-onshore, or just straight onshore. There’s a tiny window on Sunday morning the 19th with a gentle offshore breeze, but the swell is a paltry 1.0 ft from the NNW. It’s clean, but barely a ripple. The same goes for Tuesday morning the 21st. It’s frustrating because the conditions are clean, but there’s just no power behind it.

The water is a notable talking point, though. The first time you paddle out at Westward Ho, you’ll be in for a shock. The water temperature is 64°F, which is a massive 4°F warmer than usual. That’s a real anomaly for this time of year, so you can probably leave the thickest wetsuit at home.

The second week looks a little more promising, but it’s not without its issues. The swell finally starts to build around the 25th and 26th of July. By Sunday the 26th, we’re seeing a 5 ft west swell, with the wave energy climbing to a moderate 269. That’s the most we’ve seen all forecast. The problem is, the wind is a howling onshore westerly at 16 to 19 mph. That’s going to be a messy, blown-out mess. For a beach break like Westward Ho, this setup is frankly more interesting for kite surfing than for a clean paddle session. It’s just not surfable for anyone looking for a decent wave.

The wind does look to shift a bit later on. Towards the end of the month and into the start of August, we start seeing some cross-offshore and even clean offshore breezes. The swell sticks around at a knee-to-waist high 4 to 4 ft on the 30th and 31st, and the energy is moderate. But the swell direction is straight from the west, and the period is a short 6 to 7 seconds. That’s windswell, not a proper groundswell, so it’ll be a bit crumbly and weak.

There is one bright spot if you’re patient. The morning of Thursday the 30th of July has a 5 ft west swell with a slightly longer period of 7 seconds, and the energy hits 272. It’s got a gentle cross-shore breeze from the south, which is decent. That’s probably the best of a pretty average bunch, but it’s still a far cry from perfect.

The very end of the run, heading into Sunday the 2nd of August, sees a clean offshore breeze but the swell has dropped back to a tiny 2 ft. It’s a clean and glassy morning, but again, you’ll be fighting for every little ripple.

So, to wrap it up: there’s no standout, no day to circle on the calendar. The best you can hope for is a messy, onshore day around the 26th of July if you’re desperate, or a cleaner but weaker day on the 30th. It’s a long wait for not much reward. Keep your eyes on the forecasts, because it tends not to stay this quiet for long.

Rusty.

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