East Coast
Saturday is looking like the conditions are going to be small with waves too small for catching but this all changes for Sunday with the conditions taking a serious jump especially first thing in the morning with the waves showing 4ft plus conditions in Wicklow with very strong winds from the south. These winds are in the dangerous strength and should only be ventured out in if you are an experienced surfer. Later in the day the gusts have dropped by nearly 20 mph making for only slightly safer conditions but the south end of the beach should have the most shelter especially nearer high tide. The swell is all driven by the winds as seen by the 8 second period all day. Extreme care should be taken and please seek the advices of the local surf school if unsure. The waves will have a cross offshore bump but should be clean for the most part.
South Coast
Tramore looks to start off with some really nice conditions first thing Saturday morning with 2-3ft conditions with the winds only showing light breezes for most of the day. The direction is slight onshore but this should not have much bearing on the waves. By Saturday evening the winds have picked up and this will have more of a bearing on the waves with onshore bumpy conditions turning messy. Sunday maxes out with both winds and waves turning unsurfable so make the most of Saturday.
South West
Garretstown looks to start off looking really nice on Saturday morning but the winds kick in soon after turning things messy earlier so it’s a dawnie surf for best conditions. As the winds turn onshore the conditions will get messy but first thing should have 4-5ft conditions with bigger sets, so again this is only for surfers comfortable in waves of this size and power. Sunday turns to the worst and should be avoided. Inch Beach in Kerry is maxed out for Saturday and Sunday and should be avoided.
West Coast
Lahinch is also looking like it is maxed out for the weekend with no conditions for improvers with moderate to strong onshore winds on both days.
North West
While the charts are showing spots like Strandhill and Enniscrone to be good due to the swell direction and opposing wind direction, the wave heights should leave them maxed out with very few spots surfable. The major factor on the north west is the really large period which will make for large gaps showing apparent safety to paddle out but this will be met with large income sets that could light up the horizon. Even spots like Streedagh that take a larger swell to get going will appear safe but could then light up with large looming sets due to the 15 second period. Mullaghmore Beach could have a clean wave on Saturday and with the wind direction and beach direction could lead to ok conditions. The Intercounties due to be held in Rossnowlagh could be for the brave as the swell as the waves could be up to 6ft and bigger on the sets with the winds heading up into the beach but this doesn’t seem to bother Rossnowlagh too much. The paddle out for Dara O’Malley could be moved to Creevey Pier for the safety of the participants. Sunday sees the winds kick up to nearly 50 mph with nowhere safe so have a day of rest.
North Coast
Conditions in Portrush have been nice these last few evenings, correctly predicted by Andy from Troggs and it looks to continue into the weekend with Saturday showing what looks like 2-3ft but should end up much bigger on the sets due to the large period, so expect big gaps between the sets and then large waves coming through hitting 6ft plus with nice offshore winds favouring East Strand mostly but also being offshore for Whiterocks. Sunday sees the winds go to strong offshore making for 2ft conditions but the winds will make it very hard to control the board or even get into the waves so I would recommend giving it a miss.
Surf Safe and Enjoy,
Col,
Surf Improvers