Widemouth Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Widemouth Bay (Cornwall) is serving up over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – it’s a pretty grim start. The first week or so is basically a write-off for any decent wave riding. The good news? There’s a glimmer of hope later on, but we’ve got a long, quiet stretch to get through first.

For the first several days, from late August right through the end of the month, we’re looking at tiny, weak surf. Early Saturday morning, the 22nd, you might get a little knee-high wobble around 2ft from the west, with a light offshore breeze out of the ENE keeping it clean. The combined energy is a measly 69, so it’s pretty pathetic. Honestly, it’s only really surfable if you’re a beginner just wanting to get wet, but don’t expect any grins. After that, it just gets smaller and weaker; we’re talking ankle-biters with energy readings dropping into the teens and twenties. For days on end, it’s just “poor surf conditions” – a real bummer.

We do get a pulse of size mid-week, on the morning of Thursday the 27th of August. The swell jumps right up to 10ft from the west. The combined energy is a much more respectable 985, so there’s weight behind it. But – and it’s a big but – the period is a short, crumbly 8 seconds and the wind is cross-shore. This is gonna be a messy, bumpy close-out at a beach and reef setup. For a break that’s fairly exposed to the west, that’s a lot of water moving with no shape. Honestly, with that combo of size and chop, it might be more interesting for the kite surfers than for us paddle guys. Definitely not a standout – more of a "watch from the car park" kind of day.

We then roll into a fairly consistent but not great pattern. The surf stays on the smaller side for a few days, but the wind keeps ruining it. We get another solid bump on Wednesday the 2nd of September, with a 7ft west swell pushing in, and energy cranking up to 1055. The wind is cross-onshore though – bumpy again.

The real standout, the one that gets my heart rate up a little, is Thursday the 3rd of September. Early morning, we’ve got a very solid 8ft swell coming from the west, with an 11 second period – a nice, long groundswell. The combined energy is a hefty 1613, so there’s some serious power. Now, the downside: it’s a cross-onshore wind, and that kind of size and period at a beach break can mean it just closes out in a straight line. But if the wind plays ball even a little, and you know a bank that works, this is the best bet in the entire outlook. It’s big, powerful, and has proper grunt. This one is only for the experts though – way too much water moving for the average punter. The morning of the 4th might also offer a leftover 6ft, but same story wind-wise.

So, to wrap it up: a long, flat and weak start, one messy spike of size, and then one big, powerful groundswell with dodgy wind. If you’re an experienced local who knows the reefs and how to handle a lumpy 8ft west swell in a cross-onshore, the 3rd of September is the only window worth looking at. For everyone else, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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