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

	Friday 08			Saturday 09			Sunday 10			Monday 11			Tuesday 12			Wednesday 13			Thursday 14			Fri
	AM	PM	Night	PM	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	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	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	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill 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	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	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	2.2 WSW	2.1 W	2.4 WNW	1.0 SSW	2.5 NNW	0.8 N	2.0 NNW	2.1 N	1.8 N	1.4 N	1.5 N	1.9 W	3.0 WNW	3.0 WNW	2.5 WNW	3.0 WNW	3.0 WNW	1.9 WNW	2.4 NNW	3.0 NNW	2.3 N	1.7 NNW
Period(s)	8	7	9	13	11	11	11	11	10	9	9	6	8	10	11	12	12	11	8	9	9	8
Energy	688	543	1503	331	1708	150	983	1145	857	546	601	522	1115	1706	1642	2632	2483	1562	1035	1475	932	468
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- off	cross- on	on	on	on	cross- on	cross- off	cross- on	cross	off	on	cross- on	cross- on	on	on	cross- on	on
High Tide / height (m)		1:47PM 2.13	2:04AM 2.36		3:05PM 2.04	3:17AM 2.32		4:25PM 2.08		4:26AM 2.37	5:29PM 2.21		1:00PM 0.57	11:02PM 0.57	8:12PM 2.04	6:14AM 2.66		8:58PM 2.23	9:54AM 2.42		7:43PM 2.85	7:48AM 3.04
Low Tide / height (m)			7:36PM 1.14	8:34AM 1.03		8:39PM 1.23	9:49AM 1.01		9:58PM 1.23	11:01AM 0.87		11:14PM 1.13	6:09PM 0.49		1:58AM 0.84	12:47PM 0.43	3:27PM 0.41	2:46AM 0.65		1:31PM 0.23	1:50AM 0.49
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	clear	some clouds	some clouds	rain shwrs	rain shwrs	rain shwrs	some clouds	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	clear	clear	rain shwrs	some clouds	rain shwrs	cloudy	rain shwrs
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	2	1	7	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	2	-	-	1	-	1	-	2
High °C	9	7	7	16	6	6	5	6	5	6	6	9	9	9	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	7
Low °C	8	7	6	16	6	5	4	5	5	6	6	6	9	8	7	8	8	7	8	8	7	7
Chill °C (?)	5	2	2	15	2	3	1	1	0	2	2	4	5	5	4	5	6	4	4	4	4	4
Sunrise	4:58	-	-	-	-	-	4:54	-	-	4:52	-	-	4:48	-	-	4:48	-	-	4:45	-	-	4:43
Sunset	-	9:21	-	5:31	9:22	-	-	9:25	-	-	9:28	-	-	9:30	-	-	9:31	-	-	9:35	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.5 N	0.4 N	1.4 NW	1.0 SSW	2.5 NNW	0.8 N	2.0 NNW	1.0 W	1.3 WNW	1.4 N	1.5 N	1.0 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	2.5 WNW	3.0 WNW	3.0 WNW	1.9 WNW	1.3 WNW	1.0 WNW	0.7 WNW	0.6 W
Period (s)	9	9	12	13	11	11	11	8	8	9	9	9	8	8	11	12	12	11	10	10	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.2 W	0.3 WNW	0.5 W	-	0.5 W	0.1 SE	0.6 W	-	-	1.2 WNW	1.2 WNW	0.5 WNW	-	0.1 W	0.5 N	-	-	-	-	0.1 W	0.2 ENE	0.2 ENE
Period (s)	15	14	13	-	12	5	11	-	-	8	9	12	-	19	8	-	-	-	-	16	8	8
Wind waves (m) & direction	2.2 WSW	2.1 W	2.4 WNW	-	-	0.4 WNW	-	2.1 N	1.8 N	0.4 NNW	-	1.9 W	3.0 WNW	3.0 WNW	-	0.5 N	0.4 N	2.3 N	2.4 NNW	3.0 NNW	2.3 N	1.7 NNW
Period (s)	8	7	9	-	-	6	-	11	10	7	-	6	8	10	-	8	8	8	8	9	9	8

	Friday 08							Saturday 09					Sun		Sat	Sunday 10
	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	0:30AM	3:30AM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM
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	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness 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	3	0	0	3	2	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.6 W	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.1 W	2.4 W	2.5 WNW	2.4 WNW	3.0 NW	3.0 NW	3.0 NW	3.0 NW	0.8 SSW	0.8 SSW	1.6 N	2.2 NNW	0.8 N	1.6 N	0.9 N	2.2 NNW	2.1 N	2.0 N
Period(s)	9	8	8	8	7	8	8	9	10	10	10	10	13	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10
Energy	455	740	688	638	543	841	1224	1503	1893	1980	1955	1867	211	199	618	1446	155	628	207	1189	1145	1060
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross	cross	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	on	on	cross- off	cross- on	cross- off	cross- off	off	on	on	on
Tide State	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	mid-flow	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	mid-flow	mid-flow	high
High Tide / height (m)					1:47PM 2.13				2:04AM 2.36									5:05AM 1.97				4:25PM 2.08
Low Tide / height (m)			7:31AM 0.96				7:36PM 1.14				8:34AM 1.03
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	some clouds	light rain	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	clear	clear	cloudy	cloudy	mod. rain	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-
Temp. °C	10	9	9	8	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	15	15	6	7	6	6	5	5	5	6
Chill °C (?)	6	4	5	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	14	14	3	3	2	4	2	1	0	1
Sunrise	-	4:58	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:56	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:50	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	9:21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:25
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.6 W	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.4 N	0.6 NW	1.0 NW	1.4 NW	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	3.0 NW	0.8 SSW	0.8 SSW	1.6 N	2.2 NNW	0.8 N	1.6 N	0.9 N	0.5 W	1.0 W	1.3 W
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	9	12	12	12	13	12	12	10	13	12	11	11	11	11	11	10	8	8
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.6 N	0.1 SE	0.2 W	0.3 WNW	0.3 WNW	0.4 N	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.2 NNE	0.5 W	0.2 ESE	0.5 W	-	-	0.1 SE	0.5 W	0.1 SE	0.1 SW	0.1 SE	0.1 N	-	0.1 N
Period (s)	9	7	15	15	14	9	13	13	9	12	5	12	-	-	5	11	4	11	4	12	-	11
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.5 S	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.1 W	2.4 W	2.5 WNW	2.4 WNW	3.0 NW	3.0 NW	3.0 NW	-	0.4 SE	0.4 SE	-	1.3 NW	-	-	0.3 SW	2.2 NNW	2.1 N	2.0 N
Period (s)	4	8	8	8	7	8	8	9	10	10	10	-	3	3	-	10	-	-	2	11	11	10

	Friday 08
	2AM	3AM	4AM	5AM	6AM	7AM	8AM	9AM	10AM	11AM	12PM	1PM	10:30PM	11:30PM	4PM	5PM	6PM	7PM	8PM	9PM	10PM	11PM
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	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness 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	3	0	0	3	2	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.6 W	1.6 W	1.6 W	1.6 W	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	1.3 SSW	1.3 SSW	0.3 NNE	2.2 W	0.9 SE	0.3 NNE	0.2 NNE	2.5 WNW	2.5 WNW	2.5 WNW
Period(s)	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	14	14	9	8	6	9	9	8	8	8
Energy	478	485	455	455	740	740	708	704	688	673	627	638	733	733	16	611	67	24	8	1147	1224	1295
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross	cross	cross- on	cross- on	cross- off	cross	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on
High Tide / height (m)															3:55PM 1.80
Low Tide / height (m)							7:31AM 0.96
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	14	14	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7
Chill °C (?)	6	6	6	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	3	3	12	12	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2
Sunrise	-	-	-	4:58	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:21	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.6 W	1.6 W	1.6 W	1.6 W	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	1.3 SSW	1.3 SSW	0.9 SSE	0.4 N	0.9 SE	0.8 SSE	0.7 SE	0.8 NW	1.0 NW	1.1 NW
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	14	14	6	9	6	6	6	12	12	12
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.7 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.1 SE	0.1 SE	0.1 SE	0.2 W	0.2 W	0.2 W	0.2 W	0.3 WNW	-	-	0.3 NNE	0.3 WNW	0.2 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.2 NNE	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.5 W
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	7	7	7	15	15	15	15	15	-	-	9	14	9	9	9	13	13	13
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.7 S	0.6 S	0.5 S	0.5 S	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	2.2 WSW	0.7 SSW	0.7 SSW	0.9 WSW	2.2 W	0.7 WSW	1.0 W	0.7 WSW	2.5 WNW	2.5 WNW	2.5 WNW
Period (s)	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	4	4	4	8	4	4	4	8	8	8

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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	Pressure
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