surfing near inverness

[jashmore]

Hi, I am potentially moving to inverness and am interested to hear from other surfers what the surfing options are up there. Clearly thurso and the north coast would be a good bet but I was wondering if there are any options which you can get to much quicker. Lossimouth comes up a bit whenever I search. How consistent is this break? How often does it get say waist to shoulder high waves? Are there any "secret spots" closer to inverness? Many thanks for any info

[jaffa1949]

Well you haven't quite gone to the far ends of the surfing universe but , getting closer and the whole range of Moray firth spots beckon.
Copious antifreeze recommended, Bruichladdich to you, or any Whiskey trail single malts.
There are 13 noted surf spots between Lossiemouth Spey Bay and Fraserburgh and then the east coast might beckon.
There is of course he town hat sounds like a fart, Banff . the Stormrider Europe guide is a good help!
Of course the whole Caithness coast. Thurso et al, are on offer and you can get your Dounreay nuclear glow from radioactivity.
You will a much hardier surfer or a former surfer depending on how the cold effects you.
There is a real hardcore crew that are really happen to share their patch ( much respect due) and share rides to on spots, might even share secrets.......... I can't my whiskey supply will be withdrawn

[Oldie]

I don't know about Inverness, but surfed east of Edinburgh (Belhaven Bay and Pease Bay). The waves actually were not bad, as a swell from the north with the prevailing west winds can give nice conditions. But the water temperature at 12° (in August!) was killing the fun. And Inverness is probably even colder. If water sports, I would probably doing windsurfing there. And Golf is great in that area, too.

[jashmore]

Thanks both for your replies. I have actually surfed Aberdeen in January a couple of times. Its cold but I'm willing if it means getting some waves! I think I would prefer the cold of Scotland to the crowds of cornwall and devon! In terms of lossimouth (and that section of coast) how often does it work? Probably never in summer I guess but how often over Autumn/winter do you get waves there? Say once a week? How long does the drive take from central inverness? And also how long is the drive from central inverness to Thurso too? Google maps says 2.5 hours but not sure how accurate it is up there? Is there a crew of surfers in inverness that make the drive when there is waves? Thanks again for the info.

[Emmitupnorth]

Coming to this conversation late. Interested to know the outcome from the original poster? Did you go for east of Inverness? If so how often are you getting in the water? I am in a similar position a few years later. My work means I need to be nearish Inverness as well. I was thinking of moving north of Inverness to have easier access to Thurso & north coast but also hopefully get the odd surf in closer to home. Not sure how frequently any swells get into any of those east facing Moray Firth spots? If it’s entirely reliant on Easterly swells I guess it’s pretty rare but would be good if the same sort of north swells that hit NE England get in there too. The aspect of that coastline doesn’t look like it’ll help

[jaffa1949]

I think the Nessie got him, he has not been seen since august 2016.
There are some realistically good surf spots around