The west coast is seeing a large period swell coming through that is going to make forecasting difficult as larger period swells are hard to predict as they move slower than normal period swells meaning that they could be delayed on arriving and when they arrive can bring much fatter waves rather than much bigger waves making for bigger duck dives and sometimes heavier dumpy waves as the larger amount of water in each wave. If in doubt, don’t go out!
East Coast
Surf on Saturday looks to be too small to bring any waves to the east coast with Sunday being just below the minimum so it could have a 1-2ft wave with moderate cross shore winds from the south but bare in mind that if the winds don’t blow then the swell might not make it up the channel as it is only a windswept 6-7 second period.
South Coast
Saturday looks small and onshore in Tramore with 2ft blown onshore waves with the winds up to nearly 20mph onshore. Sunday looks to start off quite strong but then the winds back off quite a lot around midday and into the afternoon. This will not bring clean waves as a few days of onshore conditions will leave plenty of bumps on the waves but it will make for some nice waves that will hold up a little better without the moderate onshore with waves up to 4ft but still with an 8 second period.
South West
It is looking onshore for Saturday in Garretstown but the real issue is that the waves are forecast to be over 8ft with a 16 second period making it for experienced surfers only. Sunday is showing something similar with 6ft waves and bigger on sets with a 14 second period with light onshore winds. Inch Beach in Kerry is looking like it is going to be maxed out so options are really only for the north side of the peninsula where it could still be large with the big period on the waves so check your spots and only surf in conditions that match your ability.
West Coast
Lahinch is also looking maxed out with 13ft 16 seconds making for massive waves on the beaches and the reefs so I would give it a miss for both Saturday and Sunday. Extreme should be taken in relation to the tides also as the tides are going to race in and out with it going from a 5m high to a 0.4m low.
North West
Strandhill is going to be maxed out on Saturday with Aughris even seeing larger conditions and Streedagh having larger dumpy sets. It could be an opportunity to check Mullaghmore Beach for waves as the sets could get in there and have smaller waves and cleaner conditions. Sunday could have some large sets still on Strandhill with waves still in the overhead range so only surf if you are comfortable in these condition. Another factor is the winds also pick up Sunday meaning that it will be quite blustery. Streedagh might still be an option but the wind direction is not great. In the Bundoran area Tullan will be maxed out all weekend with Rossnowlagh seeing head high sets on Saturday with large waves coming through on the 16 second period. The Waves will be fat and hard to get under so expect a hard slog and miles if you intend going out back. It might be easier to surf the inside on the higher tide for both Saturday and Sunday.
North Coast
Portrush is showing 3-4ft waves but I suspect these will be bigger with the 14 second period and the likes of East Strand and Whiterocks can hold much larger waves to the inside so getting out could be the challenge with large closing out waves. It may look class but could be a challenge to duck diving with the more voluminous waves. Winds are offshore Saturday and light enough with Sunday showing 2-3ft but again, I would expect this to be much bigger with much stronger winds gusting up to 30mph+ making it difficult enough to control you board. It looks like it cleans up later in the day when the winds drop back a little.
Surf safe and Enjoy,
Col,
Surf Improvers