Whitsand Bay and Tregantle Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it’s Rusty here. Let's be straight with you: this is a tough one for the next 16 days out of Whitsand Bay and Tregantle. The numbers are telling me there’s nothing to get excited about for a long while. The first real sign of any surf isn't until the very end of the first week, and even then, it’s a mess.

The water temperature is sitting at 67°F currently, which is a whopping 5°F warmer than usual for this time of year. That’s very unusual – feels like bath water out there, but it won’t do you any good with the waves we’ve got.

The first couple of weeks are a write-off for a proper paddle. We’ve got days of flat, tiny, or junk swell. Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th are glassy but with swell heights of just 0.3ft – that’s a lake, not a surf. Saturday 25th sees a bit of a bump, but it’s a 2ft windswell from the west with a period of only 4 seconds, and a fresh cross-onshore wind of 35 km/h. That’s lumpy, messy, and poor. The combined energy is a weak 15. Not worth a second look.

We go through a whole week of this – tiny waves, poor conditions, onshore winds. The combined energy stays in the low single digits or teens. It’s a frustrating gap of about 8 days with nothing to recommend.

Then, things start to change around the end of July. On Friday 31st July, we see a pulse of swell coming in. The morning is still a weak 3ft at 4 seconds, but the afternoon brings a 6ft swell from the SW with a period of 6 seconds and a combined energy of 245 (moderate energy). The wind is onshore though, SW at 25 km/h, and the surf quality is still rated poor. That’s a lot of water moving but it’s going to be a bumpy, blown-out mess.

The best of the entire run looks like it’s on Saturday 1st August. The morning shows a 5ft SW swell (9 seconds period) with a combined energy of 354 (moderate to strong). The afternoon ramps up to 7ft from the SW with a period of 7 seconds and a combined energy of 414 (strong). That’s a real push of water. The problem is the wind. It’s a gentle cross-onshore from the south at 15 km/h, so it’s not all-out blown, but it’s still onshore and choppy. The surf quality is still marked as poor. This is a big swell – over 8ft in the afternoon, so that’s experts only territory. The swell is from the SW, which is the optimum direction for this spot, so the lines should be decent, but the wind is going to chop them up. For a point break or reef, a long period groundswell would be a dream, but here with a period of 7 to 9 seconds it’s a mixed bag. The moderate combined energy (354 and 414) shows there’s power, but the onshore wind is the killer. Honestly, with that wind and that size, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

After that, Sunday 2nd August drops back to 4ft, and the wind stays cross-onshore. The rest of the second week fades back into tiny, weak, onshore slop.

So, look. If you’re desperate, Saturday 1st August is the only day with any real size and power, but don’t expect clean, peeling waves. The wind is going to spoil it. Everything else is a flat, windy, or tiny mess. It’s a long blank run for this area, and it’s one of those times where you just have to wait for the next forecast update.

Rusty.

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