Orkney Surf

Orkney Surf Forecast

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.

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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

	Wed	Thursday 28			Friday 29			Saturday 30			Sunday 31			Monday 01			Tuesday 02			Wednesday 03
	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night
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	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	1	3	2	1	2	1	1	0	0	1	2	3	2
Wave Height (m) & direction	0.8 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.4 W	1.1 SE	2.3 WSW	2.4 W	1.6 W	1.2 W	0.9 N	1.1 W	0.8 N	0.6 W	0.8 WSW	0.7 WSW	0.5 W	0.4 WSW	0.4 WSW	0.5 W	0.6 W	1.2 W	1.2 W
Period(s)	10	9	9	8	7	7	8	7	7	10	11	10	13	11	11	11	10	10	9	14	13	12
Energy	136	66	49	25	98	472	643	281	215	228	535	203	172	219	158	75	49	55	81	200	513	410
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	off	off	off	off	off	cross	cross	cross	glass	cross- off	off	off	cross- off	off	off	glass	cross- on	cross	off	off	glass	off
High Tide / height (m)		7:25AM 2.70		7:56PM 2.73	11:01AM 2.31		8:30PM 2.82	8:46AM 2.78		9:04PM 2.88	9:23AM 2.80		9:59PM 2.88	10:00AM 2.78		10:12PM 2.91	10:37AM 2.71		10:48PM 2.88	11:14AM 2.61		11:16PM 2.85
Low Tide / height (m)	1:25AM 0.74		1:45PM 0.51	2:06AM 0.64	4:53AM 0.63	2:22PM 0.51	2:43AM 0.55		2:57PM 0.52	3:19AM 0.49		3:52PM 0.54			4:05PM 0.57		4:30AM 0.48	4:40PM 0.62		5:08AM 0.52	5:15PM 0.68
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	clear	clear	some clouds	some clouds	light rain	light rain	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	some clouds	some clouds	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	some clouds	light rain	cloudy	rain shwrs	rain shwrs
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	-	-	2	-	3	9
High °C	10	11	10	14	15	11	11	13	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	11	12	11
Low °C	9	9	10	11	13	11	10	12	12	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	11	11	11	10
Chill °C (?)	7	7	6	12	14	7	7	12	12	10	9	11	10	9	8	9	9	10	11	8	12	10
Sunrise	-	4:18	-	-	4:16	-	-	4:15	-	-	4:13	-	-	4:11	-	-	4:09	-	-	4:07	-	-
Sunset	-	-	10:04	-	-	10:05	-	-	10:07	-	-	10:08	-	-	10:10	-	-	10:12	-	-	10:14	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.8 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.4 W	1.1 SE	0.1 SE	0.1 SE	0.2 W	1.2 W	0.9 N	1.1 W	0.8 N	0.6 N	0.8 WSW	0.7 WSW	0.5 W	0.4 WSW	0.4 WSW	0.5 W	0.6 W	1.2 W	1.2 W
Period (s)	10	9	9	8	7	7	6	11	7	10	11	10	9	11	11	11	10	10	9	14	13	12
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.4 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 SE	0.1 N	0.1 N	0.1 W	0.1 N	0.6 N	0.7 W	1.1 N	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.4 N	0.3 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.5 WSW	0.3 NNE	0.4 ESE
Period (s)	6	6	6	7	6	6	19	8	8	7	10	11	13	8	8	7	7	8	7	10	7	7
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.7 SE	0.7 SSE	1.1 SE	0.4 S	0.2 W	2.3 WSW	2.4 W	1.6 W	-	0.3 ESE	0.3 ESE	-	-	-	-	0.4 ESE	0.6 SE	0.7 SSE	0.3 SSE	0.4 SSE	0.6 SE	-
Period (s)	4	4	4	4	3	7	8	7	-	2	3	-	-	-	-	3	3	4	3	3	4	-

	Wed	Thursday 28								Friday 29								Saturday 30
	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM
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	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	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness 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	Rackwick Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Wave Height (m) & direction	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.4 W	0.4 W	0.4 W	0.4 W	0.4 WNW	1.1 SE	1.0 SE	2.3 WSW	2.5 W	2.5 W	2.4 W	2.1 W	1.9 W	1.6 W	1.3 WNW
Period(s)	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	10	7	7	7	7	8	8	7	7	7	7
Energy	144	136	107	73	66	48	49	34	30	25	41	72	98	89	472	661	763	643	474	385	281	166
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	cross	off	off	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	glass
Tide State	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	mid-flow	high	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb
High Tide / height (m)	7:18PM 2.63				7:25AM 2.70				7:56PM 2.73					11:01AM 2.31			8:30PM 2.82				8:46AM 2.78
Low Tide / height (m)			1:25AM 0.74				1:45PM 0.51				2:06AM 0.64				2:22PM 0.51				2:43AM 0.55
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	cloudy	clear	clear	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	light rain	light rain	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Temp. °C	10	9	9	9	9	11	10	10	11	14	13	12	15	13	11	11	11	11	10	10	12	12
Chill °C (?)	7	5	5	5	5	7	6	6	8	12	12	9	14	11	7	7	7	7	6	6	10	12
Sunrise	-	-	-	4:18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:15	-	-
Sunset	10:01	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10:04	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10:05	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.4 W	0.4 W	0.4 W	0.4 W	0.4 WNW	1.1 SE	1.0 SE	0.1 SE	0.1 SE	0.1 W	0.1 SE	0.1 W	0.2 W	0.2 W	1.3 WNW
Period (s)	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	10	7	7	7	6	19	6	18	12	11	7
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.5 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.2 WNW	0.3 SE	0.3 WNW	0.4 WNW	0.1 N	0.1 N	0.1 N	-	-	0.1 W	0.1 W	0.1 W	0.1 N	0.2 N
Period (s)	7	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	10	8	6	6	6	-	-	19	19	18	8	8
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.6 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.9 SE	1.1 SE	1.2 SSE	0.9 SSE	0.4 S	0.4 SW	0.7 W	0.2 W	0.5 SW	2.3 WSW	2.5 W	2.5 W	2.4 W	2.1 W	1.9 W	1.6 W	-
Period (s)	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	3	4	3	3	7	7	8	8	7	7	7	-

	Wednesday 27	Thursday 28
	8PM	9PM	10PM	11PM	0AM	1AM	2AM	3AM	4AM	5AM	6AM	7AM	8AM	9AM	10AM	11AM	12PM	1PM	2PM	3PM	4PM	5PM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Birsay Bay 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	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	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
Rating	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.0 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W
Period(s)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Energy	228	155	144	139	137	136	108	102	107	103	96	73	73	71	66	66	65	48	48	49	49	48
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off
High Tide / height (m)	7:18PM 2.63												7:25AM 2.70
Low Tide / height (m)							1:25AM 0.74												1:45PM 0.51
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	10	10	11	10	10	10	10
Chill °C (?)	7	7	7	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	5	5	6	6	7	6	6	6	6
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	10:04	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.0 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W
Period (s)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.6 NW	0.6 NW	0.5 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.4 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW	0.3 NW
Period (s)	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.3 SE	0.6 SE	0.6 SE	0.6 SE	0.6 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SE	0.8 SSE	0.9 SE	0.9 SSE	1.0 SE	1.1 SE	1.1 SE
Period (s)	2	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5

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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