Surfing in Ireland in July

Conditions in July

Water temp. : 16 °C
Wetsuit : 4/3 mm, boots advised

July is small and steady. The Atlantic keeps sending something, the beaches keep breaking, and nothing that arrives is a problem for anybody who can already stand up.

It is also the month when Ireland stops being a surf trip and becomes a drive. The coast road from Donegal to Clare is the reason people rent a car here, and in July it can be done in shirtsleeves: the cliffs at Slieve League, the harbour towns, the pubs where the music starts at ten and nobody has organised it. A week with a surfboard in the car and no fixed plan is what this month is for, and the surf fits around it rather than the other way round.

The water is at 16°C, the warmest it gets outside August, which still means a 4/3 for a two-hour session.

Learning in July

For learning : Very good

The best month of the twelve to learn here. Small waves, the warmest water of the year and every school on the west coast open.

Where a beginner goes in July

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

Lahinch Strand
LahinchBeginner

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Good

Not why you come to Ireland. Take the road trip, take the longboard, and come back in October for the surf.

How July compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.