SURF FORECAST GUIDE

Understanding the surf forecast

Navigation

The surf forecast has been designed to make it as quick as possible to decide when and where to surf.

QUICKVIEW

DEEPDIVE

Quality

The surf quality is determined from an algorithm that looks at wave height, wave interval, wave direction, wind direction, wind speed and layers on over 30 years of local knowledge surfing in the UK.

The surf quality ranges from flat/poor (which are grey) to Epic (which is bright lime green).

It's simple: Go for Green!

  epic

World class surf

Solid, long-distance, lined-up, glassy conditions.
  good

Good quality surf everywhere

Solid, lined-up swells and light winds.
  ok

Average quality at most beaches

DEEPDIVE recommends the best spots for the conditions.
  poor

Stormy or messy at most spots

DEEPDIVE recommends the best sheltered spots.
  flat

Too small to surf

Waves smaller than 1ft (knee high).

Surf Height

There are many ways that people call wave height and it can be confusing. Some measure the wave height as the front of the wave, some the back of the wave. Some surf shop reports change by season. Some forecasts give a huge range of surf height, like "4ft to 8ft". We use a measure based on average body size, and to keep it simple and useful, we give just one number, the height of the set waves.

Forecast Features

QUICKVIEW
At-a-glance view, showing the best days to go surfing.

QuickView is colour coded so you can see in an instant which days look promising. See at a glance whether to dig deeper into the forecast or whether to give it a miss.

DEEPDIVE
Detailed view, showing the best time to go surfing.

DeepDive gives you a detailed view of the surf conditions every three hours for the next 7 days. Simple colour coding lets you see exactly what time the surf will be best.

FLASHREPORTS
Notifications so you never miss a good day!

FlashReports are packed with decades of UK surfing experience. You get advance notifications for not-to-be-missed days and sessions when there's a window of opportunity for great surf that others won't know about.

QUALITYCHECK
A unique calculation of the quality of the surf, displayed simply.

QualityCheck is determined using 7 different variables, every three hours, seven days a week. We do the complicated maths so you don't have to.

BESTBEACH
Clear recommendations on the best beaches to surf each day

BestBeach draws upon sophisticated computer modelling, combined with over 30 years of UK surfing experience, to give you clear recommendations on the very best beaches to surf for the conditions.

EVERYWHERE
Spot-specific, detailed forecasts for every major beach in the SW UK.

We combine local knowledge, bathymetry and computer modelling to give you an accurate forecast tailored to every beach.