Orkney Surf

Detailed Orkney surf forecast maps and the latest eyeball surf report from local surfers in the region. Near-shore swell is shown on the map together with the surf forecast rating for spots in Orkney. Find the best places to surf in offshore conditions by selecting the wind option on the forecast map. Windsurfers and kite surfers can also use this option to find more favorable cross-shore conditions in Orkney. Our local Wavefinder indicates where some of the best conditions are likely to be found in Orkney over the next 7 days. Surf photos from Orkney and reviews of the best spots and surfing conditions have been provided by local surfers.

Orkney Surf Forecast

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Wave Energy Map

Wave Height Map

Wind Map

Please enable JavaScript to access the following map views:All map types that you can enable here: Orkney Colour Base Map, Wave Height, Wave Energy, Orkney Swell 1 Energy, Swell 2 Energy, Windwave Energy, Orkney Precipitation, Wind, Temperature, Orkney Cloud Cover.Map overlays available for display: Orkney Pressure, Wind.Symbols shown on the map: Orkney Surf Breaks, Tide Forecasts, Cities, Orkney Ski Resorts, Live Wave Buoys, Live Webcams, Orkney Wind Now, Temperature Now, Weather Now, Orkney Swell at breaks, Rating at breaks.

Orkney Surf Forecast map for predicting the best wave and wind conditions across the region. For surfers, the map shows the most powerful swell tracking across near-shore open water and not the peak waves experienced by boats out at sea. Move your mouse over the ocean swell symbols or the surf breaks on the coastline to see a more detailed surf forecast including wave period and wind conditions. The forecast updates every 6 hours and most live weather reports update every hour. You can animate the Orkney Surf map or show live wind and wave conditions as reported from wavebuoys and local weather stations. Surf breaks shown along the Orkney coastline are also listed below.

Orkney Photos

Orkney Wavefinder

Long range 3-hourly Hourly

	Tuesday 05			Wednesday 06			Thursday 07			Friday 08			Saturday 09			Sunday 10			Monday 11			Tue
	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.3 N	0.9 N	1.6 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.4 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.6 SSE	1.0 W	1.5 W	1.8 WSW	1.7 W	2.5 WNW	3.5 NW	3.0 NW	0.8 N	1.7 NNW	2.2 WSW	0.3 N	4.0 NNW	3.5 NNW	2.5 N	3.0 NNW
Period(s)	9	10	10	9	9	10	6	9	9	8	7	9	10	10	10	9	6	8	11	11	10	9
Energy	423	192	637	398	391	368	219	284	433	461	385	1252	2443	1871	130	531	562	19	3668	2814	1508	1493
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	on	cross	on	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- off	cross	cross	cross- on	on	cross- on	on	on
High Tide / height (m)	11:25AM 2.67		11:36PM 2.75	12:04PM 2.49	3:09PM 2.10	3:13AM 2.19	12:37PM 2.33		1:03AM 2.47		1:47PM 2.13	2:04AM 2.36	4:51AM 2.03	3:05PM 2.04	3:17AM 2.32		4:25PM 2.08		7:02AM 2.03	5:29PM 2.21	8:14PM 1.93	5:24AM 2.49
Low Tide / height (m)		5:30PM 0.71		5:58AM 0.66		8:40PM 0.87	6:34AM 0.76	6:47PM 1.01		7:31AM 0.96		7:36PM 1.14	11:26AM 0.89		8:39PM 1.23	9:49AM 1.01		9:58PM 1.23			2:03AM 1.06	11:59AM 0.66
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	rain shwrs	rain shwrs	some clouds	some clouds	light rain	mod. rain	mod. rain	some clouds	rain shwrs	cloudy	light rain
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	1	7	8	-	1	-	2
High °C	6	6	6	6	6	8	9	11	10	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	7	7	6	7
Low °C	6	6	5	6	6	7	8	11	9	8	7	6	7	7	7	6	5	4	6	7	6	6
Chill °C (?)	2	2	3	4	2	4	5	8	6	4	2	2	2	3	3	3	1	1	4	2	1	2
Sunrise	5:07	-	-	5:03	-	-	5:01	-	-	4:58	-	-	4:56	-	-	4:54	-	-	4:52	-	-	4:50
Sunset	-	9:10	-	-	9:16	-	-	9:19	-	-	9:21	-	-	9:22	-	-	9:25	-	-	9:28	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.9 WNW	0.5 N	1.6 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.4 NNW	1.3 NNW	0.5 N	1.0 W	1.5 W	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.6 NW	0.4 W	0.5 W	0.8 N	1.7 NNW	1.1 N	0.3 N	4.0 NNW	1.1 WNW	1.0 WNW	0.6 WNW
Period (s)	8	10	10	9	9	10	10	9	9	9	9	13	12	12	10	9	9	8	11	9	9	12
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.2 WNW	0.3 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.8 WNW	0.7 WNW	0.5 W	0.1 W	0.9 N	0.7 N	0.2 W	0.3 WNW	0.3 NNE	-	-	0.1 SE	0.4 W	0.3 W	0.2 NNW	-	-	0.3 WNW	0.4 NE
Period (s)	12	8	9	9	8	8	8	9	9	15	14	9	-	-	5	11	10	9	-	-	14	8
Wind waves (m) & direction	1.3 N	0.9 N	-	-	-	1.0 SSE	1.6 SSE	0.6 S	-	1.8 WSW	1.7 W	2.5 WNW	3.5 NW	3.0 NW	0.4 NW	-	2.2 WSW	1.1 SW	-	3.5 NNW	2.5 N	3.0 NNW
Period (s)	9	10	-	-	-	4	6	4	-	8	7	9	10	10	3	-	6	4	-	11	10	9

	Tuesday 05					Wednesday 06								Thursday 07								Fri
	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	3	2	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.3 N	1.4 N	1.6 N	1.8 NNW	0.9 N	0.8 N	1.6 NNW	1.6 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.2 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.1 SSE	1.3 NNW	1.3 N	1.3 N	1.2 N	1.0 N	0.4 NNE	1.4 W	0.3 NNE	1.5 W
Period(s)	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	4	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9
Energy	423	524	615	766	151	120	577	521	398	362	311	338	97	368	347	334	268	198	28	443	16	433
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	on	on	on	on	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	glass	off	off	off	off	cross	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off
Tide State	-	high	mid-ebb	low	low	mid-flow	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	low	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	high	low	low	mid-flow
High Tide / height (m)		11:25AM 2.67								12:04PM 2.49				12:15AM 2.61				12:48PM 2.30	3:54PM 1.94
Low Tide / height (m)				5:30PM 0.71	8:07PM 0.75			5:58AM 0.66				6:06PM 0.86	8:40PM 0.87			6:40AM 0.82				6:47PM 1.01	9:18PM 0.98
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	some clouds	some clouds	clear	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	light rain	cloudy	cloudy	clear	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Temp. °C	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	11	10	10
Chill °C (?)	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	6	4	3	2	2	3	4	4	4	4	7	6	8	6	7
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5:03	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5:01	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	9:14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:19	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.9 WNW	1.4 N	1.6 N	1.8 NNW	0.9 N	0.8 N	1.6 NNW	1.6 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.3 NNW	1.2 NNW	1.3 NNW	0.5 N	1.3 NNW	1.3 N	1.3 N	1.2 N	1.0 N	0.4 NNE	1.4 W	0.3 NNE	1.5 W
Period (s)	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.2 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.1 W	0.1 W	0.9 WNW	0.8 WNW	0.8 WNW	0.7 WNW	0.7 WNW	0.6 W	0.2 WNW	0.5 W	0.4 WNW	0.4 WNW	0.3 WNW	0.5 W	0.2 W	0.9 N	0.1 W	0.7 N
Period (s)	12	8	8	8	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	9	9	9
Wind waves (m) & direction	1.3 N	0.5 N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.3 SE	0.4 SE	1.1 SSE	1.0 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.8 S	0.9 SSE	0.7 S	1.9 SSE	0.8 S	1.8 SSE	-
Period (s)	9	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	7	4	7	-

	Tuesday 05	Wednesday 06
	8AM	9AM	10AM	11AM	12PM	1PM	2PM	3PM	4PM	5PM	6PM	7PM	8PM	9PM	10PM	11PM	0AM	1AM	2AM	3AM	4AM	5AM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	3	2	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.4 N	1.4 N	1.3 N	1.3 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	1.4 N	1.8 N	1.6 N	1.7 N	1.7 N	2.0 N	0.8 N	1.9 NNW	1.9 NNW	1.9 NNW	1.9 NNW	1.6 NNW	0.7 N	1.7 NNW	0.7 N	1.6 NNW
Period(s)	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Energy	449	463	423	423	148	106	540	1153	615	682	685	913	123	856	869	865	782	637	90	695	90	567
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	on	on	on	on	cross	cross	cross- off	on	on	on	on	on	cross	on	on	on	on	on	cross- off	cross- on	cross	on
High Tide / height (m)																	11:36PM 2.75
Low Tide / height (m)											5:30PM 0.71
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	some clouds
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6
Chill °C (?)	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4
Sunrise	5:07	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.5 N	0.1 W	1.4 N	1.8 N	1.6 N	1.7 N	1.7 N	2.0 N	0.8 N	1.9 NNW	1.9 NNW	1.9 NNW	1.9 NNW	1.6 NNW	0.7 N	1.7 NNW	0.7 N	1.6 NNW
Period (s)	8	8	8	8	9	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.1 W	0.1 W	0.2 WNW	0.2 WNW	0.1 W	0.3 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.1 W	0.9 WNW	1.0 W	1.0 W	0.9 WNW	0.9 WNW	0.1 W	0.9 WNW	0.1 W	0.9 WNW
Period (s)	12	12	12	12	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	9
Wind waves (m) & direction	1.4 N	1.4 N	1.3 N	1.3 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	0.5 N	1.5 N	-	-	-	-	0.4 N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Orkney Surf Breaks

beach

beach

reef

Orkeny and the shetlands are very remote islands in the very north of Scotland which attracts the more hard core surfer in search of some of the most perfect waves you can get in this part of the world. There is a small but keen group of surfers that live there. You need to bring all of your own equipment with you as this place is as remote as remote gets. The Bay of Skaill offers the largest surf and tends to be the most poplar spot with locals. The coastlines are very exposed so is known for some big swells powering through and hammering the shores.

Orkney has a range of sandy bays, intense reef breaks and near perfect point breaks. Luckily the gulf stream runs all of the way up offering a slightly warmer surf.
The swell window is very generous allowing breaks to go off from a multitude of directions. The weather can be quite fierce so be prepared for cold and strong winds. If the swell is flat take five to absorb one of the most beautiful untouched places in Europe. Getting there can be quite tricky and expensive but is worth it, for the waves awaiting are world class and uncrowded.

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