Widemouth Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – this is a tough stretch for Widemouth Bay. We’re looking at a long, grim run of poor surf conditions with hardly a window that’s worth paddling out for. The first actual surf recommendation doesn’t pop up until the morning of September 8th, and even then it’s a marginal call. So we’ve got a solid week of nothing to get excited about. The water is a noticeably warm 66°F for the start of the period, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only thing going for us.

The first half of the forecast is dominated by strong winds and messy, lumpy conditions. Monday the 31st of August kicks off with a 7ft swell from the west, but a fresh cross-onshore breeze from the NW at 18 mph chops it all up. The combined wave energy is moderate (947), but with winds like that, it’s just a blown-out mess. That pattern holds through the first week – a few pulses of swell, but always with that onshore or cross-onshore wind ruining the party. The periods are mostly short, around 8 seconds, so it’s just weak, bumpy, windswell.

The only real glimmer of hope comes on Tuesday the 8th of September. The morning sees a 4ft swell from the west with a period of 11 seconds, but the real story is the wind. A light cross-onshore from the WNW at 6 mph means only small wind ripples. The combined energy is moderate (375). It’s not a world-beater, but after a week of garbage, a clean 4ft wave with light wind is the best on offer. This is the standout. It’s the only time the conditions get a score of 1 out of 10, which is still a “marginal” call, but it’s the best we’ve got. The break is a beach and reef setup, and it’s fairly consistent, so there will be waves rolling through. The swell direction is from the west, which is a bit off the optimum WNW for this spot, but it’s close enough to work.

After that, it’s back to the doldrums. The wind swings offshore on the morning of Saturday the 12th of September, with a clean 2ft wave, but it’s just too small. Then on Sunday the 13th, we get a gentle offshore breeze from the east at 9 mph, with a 2ft west swell at 10 seconds. That’s a clean little wave, but the combined energy is weak (93). It’s surfable, but very ordinary.

The long-range stuff around the 14th and 15th of September looks horrible. We see a 15-second period groundswell on the 14th afternoon, with a very strong combined energy of 1084, but it’s accompanied by an onshore wind. On the 15th, we’ve got an 8ft swell with a strong breeze at 24 mph creating a messy, cross-onshore maelstrom. That’s expert-only territory if you’re mad enough, but the quality is shot. For a beach and reef break, that’s more of a kite-surfing wind-lotto than a paddle session.

So, to sum it up: the best surf you’ll see is the morning of September 8th. It’s a small, clean-ish window in a sea of bad wind. Don’t hold your breath for the second week; the long-range stuff looks promising on paper with big energy, but the wind will ruin it.

Rusty.

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