Woolacombe Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – Woolacombe is in for a pretty grim run over the next two weeks. For a spot that’s usually fairly consistent, we’re looking at a long stretch of poor conditions where the wind just won’t play ball. The pattern is messy, and the first proper chance you’d even think about paddling out isn’t until a good week away. Buckle up.

So, the story starts on Monday the 17th and runs all the way through to Thursday the 22nd, where the surf is small, weak, and getting hammered by cross-onshore and onshore winds. Swell is tiny, between 1 ft to 3 ft, with short-period windswell around 6 seconds. The combined energy is weak (43 to 324), making for a frustrating time. There are a couple of mornings with cleaner-looking offshore breezes on the 21st and 22nd, but the swell is so small (1 ft to 2 ft) it’s barely worth a mention. Honestly, you’d be better off waxing your board and waiting.

The gap here is massive – genuine poor conditions dominate from the 17th right through to the 30th. The only flicker of hope comes early on Friday the 21st morning, where we get a 2 ft swell with a light cross-offshore wind from the ESE. The energy is still weak (65) and it’s a short-period swell at 8 seconds, but the water temp is about average for this time of year. It’s a scrap, not a session.

The real standout – if you can call it that – arrives at the end. On Sunday the 31st of August, the morning looks interesting for the more experienced crew. We’ve got a 6 ft swell rolling in from the west with a period of 7 seconds. The combined energy reads at 357, which is solid-moderate. The wind is cross-shore from the SSW, light at 9 mph, which should keep things reasonably clean. That said, the crowd here can be a factor. Woolacombe is a beach and reef setup, and a 6 ft swell with that period is going to be a bit fat and messy, definitely not a beginner wave. The water temperature is sitting around average for the time of year. It’s the best of a bad bunch, but the afternoon on that day turns to junk with onshore winds.

After that, Tuesday the 1st of September rolls in with 5 ft of swell but strong onshore winds at 19 mph. That’s a no-go.

So what’s the takeaway? This is a blank run. The only time you’d even bother checking the cams is the morning of the 31st. The rest is a write-off. Conditions should improve eventually – it’s not often this place stays ugly this long. Keep an eye on it.

Rusty.

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