Surfing Strandhill

Shane_C

Just wondering if anyone can help me.

I'm thinking of going to strandhill this weekend because of the 18 FOOT SWELL. Does anyone know if the main beach in strandhill can hold something this big?

cheers

kmick

Hold it in what respect? i.e. the 18 foot swell will wash the beach away, make the beach unusable?

Gone West

Sunday might be possible, the actual wave height won't be anywhere near 18 foot. Probably be lucky to see head high waves in strandhill this weekend.
Forecasts are very liable to change.

I'd be more worried about the onshore winds on Fri/Sat.
Sunday will have surf though.

There is no point in going out in an onshore wind.
I was surfing in Kerry for a week, last week with big swell and massive (75MPH) onshore winds. It wasn't very doable...

Shane_C

I figured as much with the wave height. Never seen more than 4 foot at a beach myself. I thought the wind might be best around sligo rather than donegal this weekend but it is probably inaccurate like you said.

By not hold, I meant form a perfectly shaped wave for all of 2 seconds that simultainously breaks at every point along the 200m beach and carries any poor soul trapped on a mini mal all the way to the shore (I've had some bad experiences in strandhill )

Gone West

Well, you know yourself the left side of the beach (south) is fairly dumpy. The bathymetry of the seabed in strandhill is particularly even and has little variation in its slope, for a lot of the beach. So, at certain points, the wave is always going to break at every point.

If you stand looking at the beach for 5 minutes before getting in, you can scope out the shoulders, where you ideally want to be getting on. A slightly messy shoulder that holds for 15 seconds is better than a perfectly shaped wave that holds for 2 seconds.

Over on the right hand side (north), there are one or two really good breaks, but they are normally crowded, and you sometimes have to queue for a go. In winter, not so much though. Also, these only really suit people on shorter boards.

g-punkteffekt

if you're a beginner you should check out streedagh this weekend, should be some nice waves there, small enough, and it's easy to get out back there. If I make it to sligeach this weekend that's where I'm heading. Also mullaghmore has a couple of beach breaks which are pretty good in a big swell, one of the beaches works well in a south westernly too.

Gone West

Yeah, streedagh and Rossnowlagh will be the best surf this weekend if you go early or very late on sat/sun 9AM/4PM both days approx.

Shane_C

Thats what I was thinking aswell, but I was looking for an alternative to streedagh. Its always a bit of a gamble for your 30 minute drive.
Rossnowlagh is ok in an onshore wind, probobly try there, cheers guys.