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

	Mon		Tuesday 07			Wednesday 08			Thursday 09			Friday 10			Saturday 11			Sunday 12			Mon
	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	Night	PM	Night	AM	PM	Night	AM	PM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	A-Bay (Willyama Bay) SA - Yorke Peninsula	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Rackwick Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	5	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	4	5	4	2	3	2
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)	0.6 N	1.2 SSE	0.5 NNE	3.0 W	1.9 WNW	1.3 SE	1.6 WNW	2.1 W	2.4 W	3.0 W	0.8 ESE	0.2 NNW	0.1 NW	0.3 NW	1.3 SSW	4.0 W	2.5 WNW	1.9 WNW	2.4 W	1.9 ESE	1.7 W	1.2 W
Period(s) (?)	10	5	12	16	15	7	13	12	11	15	8	6	15	15	13	13	11	12	15	9	12	11
Energy(?)	67	105	187	5595	1721	211	947	1203	1411	6655	113	3	8	36	575	5009	1452	1839	2717	573	812	629
Wind (km/h)
Wind State(?)	cross	cross	cross	off	off	off	cross	cross- off	cross	cross	off	cross	cross	cross	cross- on	cross- off	glass	off	off	cross	cross- on	cross- on
High Tide / height (m)		11:56PM 2.72		3:25PM 2.15	12:32AM 2.54		4:08PM 1.95		4:15AM 1.97	5:05PM 1.78			3:48PM 1.99		4:39AM 2.16	5:47PM 2.04	8:08PM 1.73
Low Tide / height (m)			8:50AM 0.59			9:28AM 0.76		9:38PM 1.02	10:20AM 0.93		10:29PM 1.16	9:01AM 1.23		9:23PM 1.37	11:14AM 1.18
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	some clouds	some clouds	clear	cloudy	some clouds	clear	some clouds	rain shwrs	light rain	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	light rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	clear
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	7	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	7	7	7	8	10	11	7	11	7	7	7	6	7	8	15	6	5	5	5	6	7	7
Low °C	7	6	7	8	8	10	7	7	6	5	5	6	6	7	15	6	5	5	5	5	6	7
Chill °C (?)	4	2	2	3	8	10	5	9	2	2	2	1	2	3	14	2	2	1	0	4	5	6
Sunrise	-	-	6:22	-	-	6:18	-	-	6:18	-	-	6:13	-	-	-	-	-	6:09	-	-	6:07	-
Sunset	8:02	-	-	8:07	-	-	8:08	-	-	8:13	-	-	8:13	-	-	8:16	-	-	8:20	-	-	8:22
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.5 NNE	3.0 W	1.9 WNW	1.3 SE	1.6 WNW	2.1 W	0.2 NNE	2.4 WNW	0.8 ESE	0.2 WNW	0.1 NW	0.3 NW	1.3 SSW	4.0 W	2.5 WNW	1.9 WNW	2.4 W	1.9 ESE	1.7 W	1.4 W
Period (s)	10	9	12	16	15	7	13	12	9	15	8	15	15	15	13	13	11	12	15	9	12	8
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.1 W	-	0.4 NNE	1.3 N	0.7 N	0.2 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.1 N	0.3 ESE	0.3 NW	0.2 NNW	0.1 W	0.2 WSW	0.1 SW	0.3 SE	0.2 ESE	1.2 WNW	0.7 ESE	0.1 W	0.5 E	1.2 W
Period (s)	12	-	9	11	10	9	9	9	9	8	13	6	14	15	21	9	8	17	10	13	8	11
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.3 SSE	1.2 SSE	1.2 SE	1.2 SSE	-	-	-	-	2.4 W	3.0 W	0.9 W	1.4 SE	2.0 SSE	2.5 SSE	0.2 SSE	-	-	-	0.7 SSE	-	-	-
Period (s)	2	5	5	5	-	-	-	-	11	15	4	9	6	7	3	-	-	-	3	-	-	-

	Monday 06			Tuesday 07								Wednesday 08								Thursday 09
	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM	10AM	1PM	4PM	7PM	10PM	1AM	4AM	7AM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5	4	4	4	0	4	4	3	4	4
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)	0.6 N	1.6 WNW	0.6 N	1.2 SSE	1.2 WNW	1.1 SE	0.5 NNE	1.7 SE	0.6 NNE	0.5 NNE	0.4 NNE	2.5 W	2.5 W	2.5 W	1.8 WNW	1.7 WNW	1.1 SE	2.0 W	1.9 W	1.5 W	1.9 W	2.5 W
Period(s) (?)	10	11	9	5	19	5	12	6	12	11	11	15	14	14	14	13	7	12	12	12	12	12
Energy(?)	67	864	88	105	1978	162	187	295	106	81	50	3273	3145	2564	1349	1133	142	1252	1055	647	1006	1792
Wind (km/h)
Wind State(?)	cross	cross- off	cross	cross	off	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	cross	off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- on	glass	cross- off	off	cross- off	cross- off
Tide State(?)	high	low	low	mid-flow	mid-ebb	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb	low	high	mid-ebb	low	low	mid-flow	mid-flow	mid-ebb	low	mid-flow	high	mid-ebb
High Tide / height (m)	2:47PM 2.34								3:25PM 2.15			12:32AM 2.54									1:42AM 2.32
Low Tide / height (m)		5:53PM 0.65	8:32PM 0.68				8:50AM 0.59				9:02PM 0.86			6:53AM 0.88	7:14AM 0.88				7:06PM 1.09
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	light rain
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
Temp. °C	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	7	8	10	10	10	11	9	8	8	8	11	9	8
Chill °C (?)	4	1	2	2	3	3	2	2	3	1	3	10	9	9	10	7	6	8	5	9	7	6
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	6:22	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6:20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6:18
Sunset	-	8:06	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8:06	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8:09	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.6 N	1.6 WNW	0.6 N	0.5 N	1.5 W	0.5 N	0.5 NNE	0.6 NNE	0.6 NNE	0.5 NNE	0.4 NNE	2.5 W	2.5 W	2.5 W	1.8 WNW	1.7 WNW	1.1 SE	2.0 W	1.9 W	1.5 W	1.9 W	2.5 W
Period (s)	10	11	9	9	12	9	12	12	12	11	11	15	14	14	14	13	7	12	12	12	12	12
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.1 W	1.1 N	0.1 W	-	1.2 WNW	0.4 NNE	0.4 NNE	0.2 WNW	0.2 WNW	0.1 NW	0.1 NW	0.9 NNE	0.8 NNE	0.6 NNE	0.5 N	0.4 NNE	0.2 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.3 NNE	0.2 NNE	0.3 NE	0.2 NNE
Period (s)	12	9	12	-	19	13	9	18	18	17	16	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9
Wind waves (m) & direction	0.3 SSE	0.6 SE	0.9 SSE	1.2 SSE	0.4 SE	1.1 SE	1.2 SE	1.7 SE	2.2 SE	2.5 SSE	2.5 SSE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Period (s)	2	3	4	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

	Monday 06	Tuesday 07
	2PM	3PM	4PM	5PM	6PM	7PM	8PM	9PM	10PM	11PM	0AM	1AM	2AM	3AM	4AM	5AM	6AM	7AM	8AM	9AM	10AM	11AM
Best forecast wave conditions in Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Birsay Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Grim Ness Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Saviskaill Bay Scot - Orkney	Bay of Skaill Scot - Orkney
Rating	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5	4	4	4	0	4	4	3	4	4
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)	0.6 N	2.3 WNW	0.6 N	0.6 N	1.8 WNW	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.5 N	1.1 SSE	1.2 W	1.2 W	1.2 WNW	0.8 WNW	0.8 WNW	1.1 SE	3.0 W	3.0 W	2.5 WNW	2.5 WNW	3.0 W
Period(s) (?)	10	11	10	9	11	9	9	9	9	9	5	11	11	19	20	20	5	18	18	18	18	18
Energy(?)	70	1394	67	64	1018	63	71	78	88	80	95	601	607	1978	864	864	140	5740	6055	4451	4703	6840
Wind (km/h)
Wind State(?)	cross	off	cross	cross	cross- off	cross- on	cross- on	cross	cross	cross	cross	off	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	cross	off	off	cross- off	cross- off	off
High Tide / height (m)
Low Tide / height (m)					5:53PM 0.65			8:32PM 0.68										6:13AM 0.66
Weather Advanced Surf Forecast

Summary	cloudy	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	cloudy	clear	some clouds	some clouds	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear	clear
Rain (mm)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
High °C	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	7	7	7	6	6	7
Chill °C (?)	5	4	4	3	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	1	2	3	3	3	1	1	2
Sunrise	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6:24	-	-	-	-
Sunset	-	-	-	-	-	-	8:02	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swell1 (m) & direction	0.6 N	2.3 WNW	0.6 N	0.6 N	1.8 WNW	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.6 N	0.5 N	0.5 N	1.2 W	1.2 W	1.5 W	1.0 W	1.0 W	0.5 N	3.0 W	3.0 W	2.5 WNW	2.5 WNW	3.0 W
Period (s)	10	11	10	9	11	9	9	9	9	9	9	11	11	12	12	12	9	18	18	18	18	18
Swell2 (m) & direction	0.2 S	1.2 N	0.1 W	0.1 W	1.1 N	-	-	0.1 W	0.1 W	0.1 W	-	1.2 N	1.2 N	1.2 WNW	0.9 N	0.9 N	0.3 NNE	1.0 N	1.0 N	1.2 N	1.2 N	1.1 N
Period (s)	5	10	12	12	9	-	-	12	12	12	-	9	9	19	9	9	13	9	9	12	12	12
Wind waves (m) & direction	-	-	0.3 SSE	0.3 SSE	0.6 SE	0.5 SE	0.7 SE	0.9 SE	0.9 SSE	1.0 SSE	1.1 SSE	0.8 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	0.7 SSE	1.1 SE	0.6 SE	0.6 SE	0.6 SSE	0.6 SSE	0.8 SE
Period (s)	-	-	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	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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