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

	Tue	Wednesday 17			Thursday 18			Fri		Sat				Sunday 21			Monday 22			Tuesday 23
	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	AM	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night
Best forecast wave conditions in 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	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	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	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)	1.0 N	1.6 N	1.2 N	0.7 W	6.0 WSW	4.0 W	0.8 N	1.2 N	0.9 N	2.4 SW	3.5 N	3.0 N	3.0 N	3.0 N	3.0 NNW	2.1 N	1.6 N	2.3 WNW	1.6 WNW	1.4 WNW	0.7 WNW	1.2 W
Period(s) (?)	9	9	9	17	11	9	9	9	9	14	9	9	9	10	11	12	11	8	8	8	14	12
Energy(?)	164	571	317	455	8995	2922	104	234	245	3200	1921	1490	1393	1919	1910	1509	1070	1124	553	378	429	669
Wind (km/h)
Wind State(?)	cross	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	on	on	on	on	on	cross- off	cross- on
High Tide / height (m)		6:18AM 2.38	6:21PM 2.62	9:13PM 2.16	10:13AM 2.18		7:25PM 2.82	8:07AM 2.70		8:08PM 3.01	8:43AM 2.83		8:45PM 3.14	9:15AM 2.93		9:17PM 3.21	9:44AM 2.98		11:44PM 2.68	10:12AM 3.00	1:08PM 2.55	1:14AM 2.71
Low Tide / height (m)	11:51PM 0.84	12:20PM 1.03		3:56AM 0.51		1:18PM 0.82	1:51AM 0.37		2:02PM 0.61	2:31AM 0.18		2:39PM 0.44	3:05AM 0.06		3:12PM 0.32	3:36AM 0.01		3:43PM 0.26		4:06AM 0.04	6:57PM 0.39
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	rain shwrs	cloudy	light rain	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	rain shwrs	rain shwrs	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	light rain	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	rain shwrs	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds
Rain (mm)	1	-	1	1	2	-	2	1	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	2	1	-	1	-	-	-
High °C	13	13	14	14	14	14	13	14	14	12	11	9	11	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11
Low °C	12	12	12	14	14	13	12	13	14	12	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	10
Chill °C (?)	11	10	12	12	11	11	10	12	12	9	10	4	7	5	6	6	7	8	8	9	8	8
Sunrise	-	6:45	-	-	6:47	-	-	6:46	-	6:15	6:52	-	-	6:54	-	-	6:56	-	-	6:58	-	-
Sunset	-	-	7:29	-	-	7:25	-	-	7:22	-	-	7:20	-	-	7:16	-	-	7:14	-	-	7:10	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.0 N	1.6 N	1.2 N	0.9 N	0.7 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	1.2 N	0.9 N	1.8 SW	0.6 WSW	0.3 WSW	0.1 W	0.4 ENE	0.4 NE	2.1 N	1.6 N	2.3 WNW	1.6 WNW	1.4 WNW	1.2 NW	1.2 W
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	9	14	11	11	10	7	7	12	11	8	8	8	8	12
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.1 S	0.9 W	0.7 W	0.7 W	0.2 N	0.2 N	0.4 SSE	-	0.6 N	-	0.3 SE	0.1 SE	-	0.1 N	0.1 NE	0.2 NNW	0.1 NE	1.4 N	1.1 N	0.8 N	0.7 WNW	0.9 N
Period (s)	7	10	9	17	9	10	7	-	12	-	7	6	-	12	13	10	6	10	10	9	14	9
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	0.4 ESE	1.3 SSE	1.0 S	6.0 WSW	4.0 W	-	0.8 S	1.6 WSW	2.4 SW	3.5 N	3.0 N	3.0 N	3.0 N	3.0 NNW	2.0 WNW	2.3 WNW	-	-	-	-	0.4 NE
Period (s)	-	3	5	4	11	9	-	4	6	14	9	9	9	10	11	6	7	-	-	-	-	6

	Tue	Wednesday 17								Thursday 18								Friday 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	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness 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	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	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)	2.1 NNW	2.0 NNW	1.8 NNW	0.9 NNE	0.8 NNE	1.4 N	1.2 N	1.2 N	0.9 N	0.7 W	3.0 W	4.5 WSW	6.0 WSW	6.0 WSW	4.0 W	2.3 W	1.9 NNW	2.2 NNW	1.4 N	1.8 NNW	0.7 N	0.6 N
Period(s) (?)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	17	15	15	11	11	9	8	10	10	9	9	9	9
Energy(?)	1010	929	649	149	115	437	317	291	166	455	4489	7848	8995	7819	2922	1106	1045	1126	320	644	83	60
Wind (km/h)
Wind State(?)	on	cross- on	off	cross- on	cross- on	cross- off	off	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross	cross	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	cross- off	off	cross- off	off
Tide State(?)	-	low	mid-flow	mid-flow	high	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	mid-flow	high
High Tide / height (m)					9:09AM 2.04			6:30PM 2.60					7:21AM 2.55				7:25PM 2.82					10:58AM 2.31
Low Tide / height (m)		11:51PM 0.84				12:20PM 1.03					1:02AM 0.61				1:18PM 0.82				3:37AM 0.32
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	clear	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	cloudy	cloudy	rain shwrs	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	light rain	rain shwrs	cloudy
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	-
Temp. °C	13	13	13	12	13	13	12	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	12	13	15
Chill °C (?)	11	11	12	10	10	10	8	10	12	12	11	11	11	10	11	10	10	11	12	10	11	13
Sunrise	-	-	-	6:43	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6:47	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6:48	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7:29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7:25	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	2.1 NNW	2.0 NNW	1.8 NNW	0.9 NNE	0.8 NNE	1.4 N	1.2 N	1.2 N	0.9 N	0.9 N	3.0 W	0.8 N	0.7 N	0.7 N	0.8 N	1.0 W	1.9 NNW	2.2 NNW	1.4 N	1.8 NNW	0.7 N	0.6 N
Period (s)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	15	9	9	9	10	12	10	10	9	9	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.7 W	0.1 S	0.1 NE	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.7 W	0.9 N	0.2 N	0.2 N	-	0.2 N	0.9 N	1.3 W	1.0 W	0.4 SSE	0.6 WSW	0.4 SE	0.4 SE
Period (s)	11	11	10	8	5	10	9	9	9	17	9	9	9	-	10	10	7	11	7	10	6	6
Wind waves (m) & direction	1.0 NNW	-	-	-	0.5 E	0.8 SE	1.3 SSE	1.1 S	0.8 SSE	1.0 S	1.0 S	4.5 WSW	6.0 WSW	6.0 WSW	4.0 W	2.3 W	-	-	-	0.1 SE	0.7 S	0.8 SSW
Period (s)	8	-	-	-	3	4	5	5	4	4	5	15	11	11	9	8	-	-	-	7	4	4

	Tuesday 16				Wednesday 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	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness 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	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	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)	2.1 NNW	2.1 NNW	2.1 NNW	1.0 N	1.0 N	2.0 NNW	2.0 NNW	2.1 N	1.9 N	1.8 N	1.8 N	1.8 N	1.7 N	1.6 N	1.6 N	1.5 N	1.4 N	1.4 N	1.0 N	1.2 N	1.3 SSE	1.3 SSE
Period(s) (?)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	5	5
Energy(?)	920	870	945	159	164	929	907	1004	812	744	723	705	639	585	571	487	440	437	174	319	153	153
Wind (km/h)
Wind State(?)	on	on	cross- off	cross	cross	cross- on	cross- on	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross	off	cross	cross
High Tide / height (m)												6:18AM 2.38
Low Tide / height (m)																		12:20PM 1.03			3:22PM 0.97
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	12	13	13
Chill °C (?)	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	8	10	10
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6:45	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.9 W	2.1 NNW	2.1 NNW	0.1 S	1.0 N	2.0 NNW	2.0 NNW	2.1 N	1.9 N	1.8 N	1.8 N	1.8 N	1.7 N	1.6 N	1.6 N	1.5 N	1.4 N	1.4 N	1.0 N	1.2 N	0.6 NNE	0.6 NNE
Period (s)	12	9	9	7	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.1 E	0.9 W	0.7 W	-	0.1 S	0.9 W	0.9 W	1.0 W	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.8 W	0.1 W	0.7 W	0.2 ENE	0.2 ENE
Period (s)	6	11	11	-	7	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	5	5
Wind waves (m) & direction	2.1 NNW	-	1.0 NNW	1.0 N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.4 ESE	0.4 ESE	0.4 ESE	0.8 SE	0.8 SE	0.8 ESE	1.3 SSE	1.3 SSE	1.3 SSE
Period (s)	9	-	8	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	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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	Pressure
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