Why is it important?

Surf lessons only happen when conditions allow it, so understanding the forecast is key.

Apps used:
Windy, Windy App, Surfline, Surf-Forecast.com 

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✔️ 1. Wind

• Offshore → clean
• Onshore → messy
• Strong wind → choppy

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✔️ 2. Direction

Shows where waves come from.
Wrong direction = no waves.

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✔️ 3. Period

• 5–7s → weak
• 8–12s → good
• 10s+ → better quality

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✔️ 4. Swell

The traveling wave you surf.

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✔️ 5. Wave Energy

Shows how powerful the wave is.

• 1.0m @ 5s → weak
• 1.0m @ 10s → strong

👉 Longer period = more energy

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✔️ Conclusion

• Wind = quality
• Direction = arrival
• Period = power
• Energy = strength

🏄FORECAST EXAMPLE – Vouliagmeni

Let’s look at a real forecast example from Vouliagmeni using apps like Windy App.

In the image, you can see a forecast from Windy App for Friday in Vouliagmeni.
👉 Each column represents a time of the day (every 3 hours).

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🌊 1. Swell Size

👉 You can see:
0.6 → 0.7 → 0.9 → 1.4 m

✔️ What it means:

• The waves increase throughout the day
• The peak is around 1.4m (11:00–14:00)

👉 So:
✔️ There are waves
✔️ Midday is better

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⏱ 2. Swell Period

👉 You can see:
4.1s – 5.8s

✔️ What it means:

• Very short period
• Waves are close together and lack power

👉 So:
❌ Not quality surf
(It will feel short and weak)

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⚡ 3. Swell Energy

👉 You can see:
21 → 36 → 129 kJ

✔️ What it means:

• Energy increases during the day
• But it comes from a short period

👉 So:
👉 The waves may look bigger but
❌ they won’t have “full” power

👉 This is the classic case of:
“looks good, but isn’t”

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🧭 4. Direction

👉 The arrows point upward (South direction)

✔️ This is good because:

• Vouliagmeni works with South swell

👉 So:
✔️ Direction is correct

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🌬 5. Wind

👉 You can see:
5.4 → 6.7 → 9.4 → 10 m/s

✔️ This means:

• Moderate to strong wind
• Likely South wind (same direction as swell)

👉 So:
❌ Onshore wind
❌ Makes waves messy
❌ Creates chop (wind waves)

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🌊 6. Wind Waves (Chop)

You don’t see it directly here, but:

👉 With this kind of wind:

• There will be noticeable chop
• The waves will be messy

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🎯 OVERALL ANALYSIS (KEY POINT)

✔️ What’s good:

• Wave height ✔️
• Direction ✔️

❌ What affects the quality:

• Short period ❌
• Strong onshore wind ❌
• Moderate energy ❌

🎯 Final Conclusion

In this example:

✔️ There are waves
❌ Not much power
❌ Messy conditions due to wind

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🏄Is it good for a lesson? YES.

Because:

• Waves are soft and not too powerful
• Safer for beginners
• Helps students learn in real ocean conditions

👉 That’s why surf lessons take place when conditions allow it — not perfect, but suitable.

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🌊 Takeaway

👉 You don’t always need perfect waves
👉 For beginners:
✔️ Small, softer waves = ideal learning conditions

💡 What should you take from this

When you check a forecast:
👉 DON’T look only at wave height

You need to combine:

• wave height
• period
• direction
• wind
• energy

In this example from Vouliagmeni, we can see that even though the wave height looks good, the short period and strong wind create weak and messy waves. This shows why it’s important not to rely on just one factor in a forecast, but to look at the combination of all of them.

Follow for more Surf Tips @seviwaves.

Thank you