Widemouth Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, I’m gonna level with you—Widemouth Bay on the north Cornwall coast has a tough run ahead. There’s surf in the water for the next 16 days, but the wind and conditions fight it the whole way. The pattern starts with barely rideable small stuff, then builds into some solid-sized swell that gets absolutely hammered by onshore winds. It’s not until the final stretch that we finally get a clean window.

Tuesday the 25th and Wednesday the 26th are minimal—tiny little knee-high waves around 1ft to 2ft from the WNW, period under 10 seconds, weak energy (24 to 39). The wind is offshore early Tuesday, so those tiny waves will be glassy, but it’s barely worth paddling out for. Wednesday the wind goes cross and the waves stay weak. Thursday the 27th is still poor, with 1ft waves and a short 7-second period—combined energy down at 19. It’s a grovel at best.

Friday the 28th looks slightly bigger but worse. Swell bumps to 2ft–3ft, but it’s onshore WSW wind and the period drops to 4 seconds—complete wind chop. By Saturday the 29th, the swell jumps to 6ft–8ft from the WSW/W, with combined energy climbing into the hundreds (233 up to 1064). That’s serious power—but the wind is either strong cross-shore or full onshore at 30 km/h, making it a messy, blown-out beast. Not for beginners, and only experts might find a few. Frankly, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Sunday the 30th through Thursday the 3rd of September is a long stretch of poor quality. Swell stays between 4ft and 8ft, period around 8–9 seconds, but every session has onshore or cross-onshore wind from the SW to WSW at 30–40 km/h. Choppy, lumpy, messy—energy values up in the 300–1,000s mean there’s power, but the surface is unrideable for any decent session.

Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th start to show some hope. Friday is still onshore and messy with 5ft–6ft swell, but on Saturday the 5th, we get a shift. Early morning Saturday sees a cross-offshore SSE wind—not perfect but clean—with 6ft swell from the west, period 10 seconds, and energy at 620. Then Saturday afternoon, it gets properly interesting: ENE wind offshore at 35 km/h, 5ft swell from the west, period 11 seconds, and combined energy at 531. The surf is marginal due to tide, but the wind is fresh offshore and the waves will be clean. This is the first standout of the whole run.

Then Sunday the 6th and Monday the 7th backslide—wind goes cross and cross-onshore, swell drops below 3ft, and energy fades. Periods get weirdly long (14–15 seconds) for such small waves, which can mean fat, weak lines at a beach-and-reef setup like Widemouth.

Finally, Tuesday the 8th of September lights up. Morning has a cross-offshore NE breeze, 6ft swell from the west with a very long 15-second period—groundswell with real push. Combined energy skyrockets to 1897. The surf is still marginal on tide, but it’s clean. By Tuesday afternoon: light NE cross-offshore wind, 5ft swell from the west, 14-second period, energy at 1241. The file says expect very good surf conditions. This is the best on offer—clean, lined-up waves with real power, best for a point or reef setup, but at Widemouth’s beach-and-reef mix, the long period might make it a little straight. Still, this is the session to circle.

Wednesday the 9th of September keeps it going: cloudy, light ESE cross-offshore breeze, 6ft swell from the WNW, period 8 seconds, energy at 538. It’s good, clean, and rideable—a solid finisher to a otherwise messy forecast.

So if you’re patient, paddle out Saturday afternoon the 5th for the first clean window, but the real highlight is Tuesday the 8th—afternoon session looks class. Crowds are often a thing at Widemouth, so expect company on the good days.

Water temp is average for the time of year, no mention of anything unusual—just standard late-summer warmth.

Rusty.

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