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

	Sunday 17			Monday 18			Tuesday 19			Wednesday 20			Thursday 21			Friday 22			Saturday 23			Sun
	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	Rackwick 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	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill 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	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney
Rating	2	2	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	2	3	1	3	2	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	1
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.6 W	1.8 W	1.8 W	1.6 W	1.5 W	1.2 W	0.9 W	0.7 W	0.5 W	1.5 ESE	1.2 W	0.8 SE	1.5 W	1.3 WSW	1.5 W	0.9 WSW	0.9 WSW	0.7 WSW	1.0 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.7 W
Period(s)	13	13	12	12	11	10	10	9	9	7	14	7	12	11	10	10	13	12	6	6	9	9
Energy	968	1176	1016	727	596	324	179	109	58	231	581	81	644	442	510	176	321	215	133	124	107	79
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- on	off	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	off	cross- off	off	off	off	off	cross	cross- off	cross- off	cross	cross	cross	off
High Tide / height (m)			9:46PM 3.24	10:12AM 3.22		10:31PM 3.24	11:04AM 3.10		11:19PM 3.18			3:08AM 2.58		1:27PM 2.65	1:13AM 2.92		2:12PM 2.47	2:20AM 2.79		3:28PM 2.36	3:32AM 2.69
Low Tide / height (m)		3:39PM -0.02		4:06AM 0.02	4:28PM 0.13		4:55AM 0.01	5:14PM 0.29		8:32AM 0.14	6:03PM 0.48	8:51PM 0.63	6:42AM 0.24			7:45AM 0.40		7:56PM 0.88	8:55AM 0.53		9:07PM 1.01	10:11AM 0.59
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	light rain	cloudy	clear	some clouds	clear	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	rain shwrs	rain shwrs	light rain	some clouds	light rain	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	cloudy	clear	clear	clear
Rain (mm)	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	1	-	2	1	3	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	7	8	9	9	10	9	9	9	9	10	11	11	12	14	15	14	14	13	11	12	13	13
Low °C	7	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	11	13	14	13	13	11	11	12	12	13
Chill °C (?)	6	6	8	7	6	5	5	4	4	8	9	9	10	13	14	13	13	11	8	9	11	12
Sunrise	4:39	-	-	4:37	-	-	4:35	-	-	4:31	-	-	4:30	-	-	4:28	-	-	4:26	-	-	4:24
Sunset	-	9:39	-	-	9:44	-	-	9:45	-	-	9:47	-	-	9:49	-	-	9:52	-	-	9:53	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.6 W	1.8 W	1.8 W	1.6 W	1.5 W	1.2 W	0.9 W	0.7 W	0.5 W	1.5 ESE	1.2 W	0.8 SE	1.5 W	0.2 N	1.5 W	0.9 WSW	0.9 WSW	0.7 WSW	0.5 W	0.9 W	0.8 W	0.7 W
Period (s)	13	13	12	12	11	10	10	9	9	7	14	7	12	7	10	10	13	12	10	6	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.7 NNE	0.5 N	0.4 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.2 W	0.1 N	0.1 SE	0.6 E	0.2 NNE	0.1 SE	0.2 N	0.1 N	0.1 NE	0.1 N	0.1 N	0.6 W	0.1 N	0.1 N
Period (s)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	13	7	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	9	7	7
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	-	-	0.4 SE	0.9 SE	1.0 SE	1.3 SE	0.9 SSE	-	0.4 SW	0.3 SSW	0.5 S	1.3 WSW	-	-	0.7 W	1.0 WSW	1.0 W	-	0.3 SE	0.2 SSE
Period (s)	-	-	-	-	3	4	4	5	4	-	3	4	3	11	-	-	6	6	6	-	2	2

	Sunday 17					Monday 18								Tuesday 19								Wed
	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	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill 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	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
Rating	2	4	2	3	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.6 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.4 WNW	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.7 W	1.7 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	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W
Period(s)	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9
Energy	968	1356	1176	759	1215	1016	870	855	727	585	596	502	369	324	277	220	179	152	109	84	65	58
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- off	cross- on	off	off	off	glass	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off	off
Tide State	high	mid-ebb	low	low	high	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high
High Tide / height (m)	9:13AM 3.29				9:46PM 3.24					10:12AM 3.22				10:31PM 3.24				11:04AM 3.10				11:19PM 3.18
Low Tide / height (m)			3:39PM -0.02	4:04PM 0.04				4:06AM 0.02				4:28PM 0.13				4:55AM 0.01				5:14PM 0.29
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	light rain	light rain	cloudy	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	cloudy	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy
Rain (mm)	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Temp. °C	7	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Chill °C (?)	6	6	6	5	5	8	9	8	7	6	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:37	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:35	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	9:40	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:44	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:45	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.6 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.4 WNW	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.7 W	1.7 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	0.8 W	0.7 W	0.6 W	0.5 W	0.5 W
Period (s)	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.7 N	0.8 N	0.6 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.7 NNE	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	0.4 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.2 W
Period (s)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	13
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	-	0.3 S	-	-	-	-	-	0.4 SE	0.4 SE	0.8 SE	1.0 SE	0.9 SE	0.8 SE	0.9 SE	1.0 SE	1.1 SE	1.3 SE	1.6 SE	1.3 SSE	0.9 SSE
Period (s)	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	4

	Sunday 17	Monday 18
	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	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Mill Bay Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill 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	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	2	4	2	3	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wave Height (m) & direction	1.3 W	1.4 W	1.6 W	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.9 W	1.4 WNW	0.5 N	1.8 W	1.4 WNW	1.9 W	1.4 WNW	1.4 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.7 W	1.7 W
Period(s)	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	8	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12
Energy	892	856	968	1106	1228	1356	787	57	1176	769	1289	759	714	1252	1215	1197	1161	1016	1123	984	870	855
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross	cross- on	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off	off	cross- on	cross- off	cross- off	off	off	off	off	off	off	off	cross- off	glass	glass	cross- off
High Tide / height (m)			9:13AM 3.29												9:46PM 3.24
Low Tide / height (m)									3:39PM -0.02	4:04PM 0.04												4:06AM 0.02
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	some clouds	clear	clear
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9
Chill °C (?)	5	6	6	6	7	6	6	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	7	8	8	9	9	8
Sunrise	4:39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4:37
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9:40	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	1.3 W	1.4 W	1.6 W	1.7 W	1.8 W	1.9 W	1.4 WNW	0.6 ESE	1.8 W	1.4 WNW	1.9 W	1.4 WNW	1.4 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.9 W	1.8 W	1.7 W	1.7 W
Period (s)	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	4	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.9 W	0.7 N	0.7 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	0.8 N	0.7 N	0.5 N	0.6 N	0.7 N	0.7 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.7 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N
Period (s)	11	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.3 SE	0.6 SE	-	-	-	0.3 S	0.3 S	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Period (s)	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	-	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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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