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

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tue

Preloading...

16 day forecast maps are a premium feature
Sign Up

Already have an account? Sign in

Show location on the map:

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

	Sat	Sunday 17			Monday 18			Tuesday 19			Wednesday 20			Thursday 21			Friday 22			Saturday 23
	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	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill 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	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay 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
Rating	3	4	4	4	3	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.1 W	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.8 W	1.6 W	1.5 W	1.2 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.5 W	1.2 SE	0.9 W	2.2 WSW	1.6 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.6 W	0.7 WSW	0.7 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.4 WSW
Period(s)	12	13	13	12	12	11	10	10	9	9	7	14	13	7	11	11	10	10	12	12	11	10
Energy	610	1145	1176	1016	727	597	325	179	142	80	136	337	1527	467	281	216	111	119	145	79	74	45
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	off	cross- off	glass	cross- off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	off	cross- off	cross	cross	off	off	off	cross- on	cross	cross- on	cross- on
High Tide / height (m)		9:22AM 3.25		9:46PM 3.24	10:12AM 3.22		10:31PM 3.24	11:04AM 3.10		11:19PM 3.18			12:13AM 3.07		1:02PM 2.67	1:13AM 2.92		2:12PM 2.47	2:20AM 2.79		3:28PM 2.36	3:32AM 2.69
Low Tide / height (m)	3:20AM 0.11		3:39PM -0.02		4:06AM 0.02	4:28PM 0.13		4:55AM 0.01	5:14PM 0.29		7:28AM 0.10	6:25PM 0.49		6:42AM 0.24	6:56PM 0.69		7:45AM 0.40		7:56PM 0.88	8:55AM 0.53		9:07PM 1.01
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	light rain	light rain	some clouds	some clouds	clear	clear	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	some clouds	light rain	light rain	cloudy	clear	some clouds
Rain (mm)	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	-	-	2	-	2	2	-	-	-
High °C	8	8	8	9	9	10	9	9	9	10	10	12	11	10	9	13	13	13	14	12	12	11
Low °C	8	7	8	8	9	10	9	9	9	9	10	11	10	10	9	8	13	13	13	12	12	8
Chill °C (?)	8	7	8	7	7	7	5	5	4	8	8	10	8	6	6	12	12	11	14	10	10	9
Sunrise	-	4:37	-	-	4:37	-	-	4:35	-	-	4:28	-	-	4:31	-	-	4:28	-	-	4:26	-	-
Sunset	-	-	9:39	-	-	9:44	-	-	9:45	-	-	9:46	-	-	9:50	-	-	9:52	-	-	9:53	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.1 W	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.8 W	1.6 W	1.5 W	1.2 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.5 W	1.2 SE	0.9 W	0.2 N	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.6 W	0.7 WSW	0.7 W	0.5 W	0.5 W	0.4 WSW
Period (s)	12	13	13	12	12	11	10	10	9	9	7	14	8	12	7	11	10	10	12	12	11	4
Swell2 (m) & direction	1.0 N	1.0 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.7 NNE	0.5 N	0.4 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.1 W	0.2 E	0.3 ESE	0.2 N	0.9 W	0.6 NW	0.5 NW	0.4 NW	0.2 NNW	0.2 NNW	0.1 N	0.4 WSW
Period (s)	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	16	7	6	8	11	8	7	7	6	6	6	10
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	-	-	-	0.4 SE	0.8 SE	0.9 SSE	1.1 SE	0.5 SSE	-	0.4 SW	2.2 WSW	1.6 W	-	0.5 W	-	0.7 SE	-	0.4 W	0.6 W	-
Period (s)	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	4	4	4	-	3	13	7	-	6	-	4	-	4	4	-

	Sat	Sunday 17								Monday 18								Tuesday 19
	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	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Rackwick 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	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill 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
Rating	3	3	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	0	0	2	1	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.3 N	1.1 W	0.9 WNW	1.5 W	1.7 W	1.3 WNW	1.8 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.7 W	1.6 W	1.6 W	1.5 W	1.5 W	1.4 W	1.2 W	1.2 W	1.1 W	1.0 W	0.9 W	0.9 W
Period(s)	9	12	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10
Energy	531	610	760	1017	1145	712	1176	1271	1234	1016	870	763	727	585	597	519	369	325	293	232	179	182
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	glass	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	off	glass	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off
Tide State	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high
High Tide / height (m)	9:04PM 3.17				9:22AM 3.25				9:46PM 3.24					10:12AM 3.22				10:31PM 3.24				11:04AM 3.10
Low Tide / height (m)			3:20AM 0.11				3:39PM -0.02					4:06AM 0.02				4:28PM 0.13				4:55AM 0.01
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	light rain	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Temp. °C	8	8	8	8	7	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9
Chill °C (?)	8	6	6	5	4	6	8	6	5	7	8	8	7	6	7	6	5	5	6	5	5	5
Sunrise	-	-	-	4:39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:37	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:35	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:40	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:44	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.3 N	1.1 W	1.0 W	1.5 W	1.7 W	1.3 WNW	1.8 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.7 W	1.6 W	1.6 W	1.5 W	1.5 W	1.4 W	1.2 W	1.2 W	1.1 W	1.0 W	0.9 W	0.9 W
Period (s)	9	12	12	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.8 WNW	1.0 N	1.0 N	0.9 N	1.0 N	0.8 N	0.6 N	0.7 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.7 NNE	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.4 NNE	0.4 NNE
Period (s)	13	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.4 SE	0.4 SE	0.5 SE	0.9 SE	0.8 SE	0.7 SE	0.9 SE	0.9 SSE	1.0 SE
Period (s)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4

	Saturday 16	Sunday 17
	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	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Rackwick 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	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	3	3	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	0	0	2	1	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	0.7 W	0.7 W	1.3 N	0.9 WNW	1.1 W	1.1 W	1.1 W	1.0 W	0.9 WNW	1.2 W	1.3 W	1.5 W	1.3 W	1.4 W	1.7 W	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.3 WNW	0.6 N	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.9 W
Period(s)	13	13	9	13	12	12	12	12	14	12	13	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	8	13	13	13
Energy	368	366	531	539	610	610	670	645	760	914	1018	1017	892	856	1145	1106	1228	712	56	1055	1176	1289
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	glass	glass	off	off	off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	glass	cross- off	glass	glass	off	off	glass	glass	glass
High Tide / height (m)		8:54PM 3.23	9:04PM 3.17												9:22AM 3.25
Low Tide / height (m)									3:20AM 0.11												3:39PM -0.02
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	7	8	8
Chill °C (?)	6	7	8	8	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	6	7	4	6	6	6	5	7	8	8
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	9:37	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.0 N	1.0 N	1.3 N	1.2 N	1.1 W	1.1 W	1.1 W	1.0 W	1.0 W	1.2 W	1.3 W	1.5 W	1.3 W	1.4 W	1.7 W	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.3 WNW	0.6 N	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.9 W
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	8	13	13	13
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.8 WNW	0.9 WNW	1.0 N	1.0 N	1.0 N	1.0 N	1.0 N	1.0 N	0.9 N	0.9 N	0.9 W	0.7 N	1.0 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	0.4 WNW	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.7 N
Period (s)	13	13	13	13	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	11	8	8	8	8	8	14	8	8	8
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.4 SE	-	-	-
Period (s)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-

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.

Transparent overlay
	Pressure
	Wind
	None