Dipper › Co. Donegal

Culdaff

Excellent Quality 2025 Blue Flag faces NE

🌊 Dip🏄 Surf
Any tidePrefer highPrefer low
Surf score now
5
Grim · flat
Waves
0.2 m
12 s period from NE · model cell 2.1 km out
Sea
15.2°
Grand. M2 buoy, Irish Sea east of Dublin, 230 km away.
Tide
1.4 m
Falling, nearly low. Low at 17:00.
Wind
19 km/h
Gentle breeze, SW, offshore, gusts 45
Daylight
07:32
Sunrise. Sunset 19:03. Air 14°C.

Best surf each day

Daylight hours, preferring low tide
Today
15:00
Grim 5/100
flat · 0.2 m · 15 km/h
▼ 04:20 ▲ 10:25 ▼ 17:00 ▲ 23:00
Sat, 3 Oct
08:00
Grim 5/100
flat · 0.2 m · 11 km/h
▼ 05:10 ▲ 11:25 ▼ 18:20
Sun, 4 Oct
08:00
Grim 5/100
flat · 0.1 m · 24 km/h
▲ 00:30 ▼ 06:30 ▲ 13:25 ▼ 20:10
Mon, 5 Oct
10:00
Grim 5/100
flat · 0.3 m · 22 km/h
▲ 02:20 ▼ 08:15 ▲ 15:05 ▼ 21:35
Tue, 6 Oct
10:00
Grim 5/100
flat · 0.3 m · 16 km/h
▲ 03:40 ▼ 09:50 ▲ 16:10 ▼ 22:40
Wed, 7 Oct
10:00
Grim 5/100
flat · 0.2 m · 18 km/h
▲ 04:30 ▼ 10:35 ▲ 17:00 ▼ 23:25
Thu, 8 Oct
13:00
Grim 0/100
no wave data here · 14 km/h
▲ 05:20 ▼ 11:15 ▲ 17:35

Week at a glance

Tap or drag to pick an hour. Everything below follows.
Fri 16:005 · Grimflat
Fri 2Sat 3Sun 4Mon 5Tue 6Wed 7Thu 80003060912151821Fri 09:00 · 5 GrimFri 10:00 · 5 GrimFri 11:00 · 5 GrimFri 12:00 · 5 GrimFri 13:00 · 5 GrimFri 14:00 · 5 GrimFri 15:00 · 5 GrimFri 16:00 · 5 GrimFri 17:00 · 5 GrimFri 18:00 · 5 GrimFri 19:00 · 5 GrimFri 20:00 · 5 Grim · nightFri 21:00 · 5 Grim · nightFri 22:00 · 5 Grim · nightFri 23:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 00:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 01:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 02:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 03:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 04:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 05:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 06:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 07:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 08:00 · 5 GrimSat 09:00 · 5 GrimSat 10:00 · 5 GrimSat 11:00 · 5 GrimSat 12:00 · 5 GrimSat 13:00 · 5 GrimSat 14:00 · 5 GrimSat 15:00 · 5 GrimSat 16:00 · 5 GrimSat 17:00 · 5 GrimSat 18:00 · 5 GrimSat 19:00 · 5 GrimSat 20:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 21:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 22:00 · 5 Grim · nightSat 23:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 00:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 01:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 02:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 03:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 04:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 05:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 06:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 07:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 08:00 · 5 GrimSun 09:00 · 5 GrimSun 10:00 · 5 GrimSun 11:00 · 5 GrimSun 12:00 · 5 GrimSun 13:00 · 5 GrimSun 14:00 · 5 GrimSun 15:00 · 5 GrimSun 16:00 · 5 GrimSun 17:00 · 5 GrimSun 18:00 · 5 GrimSun 19:00 · 5 GrimSun 20:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 21:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 22:00 · 5 Grim · nightSun 23:00 · 5 Grim · nightMon 00:00 · 5 Grim · nightMon 01:00 · 5 Grim · nightMon 02:00 · 20 Grim · nightMon 03:00 · 21 Grim · nightMon 04:00 · 25 Grim · nightMon 05:00 · 28 Blowy · nightMon 06:00 · 31 Blowy · nightMon 07:00 · 5 Grim · nightMon 10:00 · 5 GrimMon 13:00 · 5 GrimMon 16:00 · 5 GrimMon 19:00 · 5 GrimMon 22:00 · 38 Blowy · nightTue 01:00 · 28 Blowy · nightTue 04:00 · 20 Grim · nightTue 07:00 · 20 Grim · nightTue 10:00 · 5 GrimTue 13:00 · 5 GrimTue 16:00 · 5 GrimTue 19:00 · 5 GrimTue 22:00 · 5 Grim · nightWed 01:00 · 5 Grim · nightWed 04:00 · 5 Grim · nightWed 07:00 · 5 Grim · nightWed 10:00 · 5 GrimWed 13:00 · 5 GrimWed 19:00 · 5 GrimThu 01:00 · 10 Grim · nightThu 07:00 · 0 Grim · nightThu 13:00 · 0 GrimThu 19:00 · 0 Grim

Fri, 2 Oct, 16:00

5 Grim
  • flat
  • offshore wind
NESWsunrisesunset0.2 m19 km/h
faces 40° NE · wind offshore
Waves
0.2 m @ 12 s from NE
Wind
19 km/h SW · gusts 45
Tide
1.3 m · low
Air
14°C · 0.4 mm rain

Meteogram

Score, waves, wind (green offshore, amber cross, red onshore), rain and air, tide

Hour by hour

Next 48 hours
TimeSurfWavesPeriodFromWindGustTideRainAirWhy
Today
15:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNE15 km/h SW491.7 m 1.2 mm13°flat
16:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNE19 km/h SW451.3 m ▼0.4 mm14°flat
17:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE20 km/h WSW441.2 m ▼dry14°flat
18:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE20 km/h WSW401.3 m ▼dry13°flat
19:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE15 km/h WSW381.6 m dry12°flat
20:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE15 km/h SW322.0 m dry11°flat
21:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE18 km/h WSW302.5 m dry11°flat
22:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE15 km/h WSW312.9 m ▲dry10°flat
23:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE20 km/h WSW303.0 m ▲dry10°flat
Saturday, 3 October
00:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE13 km/h WSW303.0 m ▲dry10°flat
01:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN15 km/h W282.7 m dry10°flat
02:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN10 km/h SW272.3 m dry9°flat
03:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN12 km/h SW251.9 m dry9°flat
04:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN12 km/h SW251.5 m ▼dry8°flat
05:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN11 km/h SW261.3 m ▼dry9°flat
06:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN12 km/h SW261.4 m ▼dry9°flat
07:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN13 km/h SW271.6 m dry9°flat
08:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN11 km/h SW282.0 m dry10°flat
09:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN14 km/h SW272.5 m dry11°flat
10:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN15 km/h WSW282.8 m dry12°flat
11:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN16 km/h WSW292.9 m ▲dry13°flat
12:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN18 km/h WSW293.0 m ▲dry14°flat
13:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN17 km/h SW292.9 m dry15°flat
14:005 Grim0.2 m10 sNNE18 km/h SW302.6 m dry15°flat
15:005 Grim0.2 m10 sNNE18 km/h SW302.3 m dry16°flat
16:005 Grim0.2 m10 sNNE18 km/h SSW311.9 m dry15°flat
17:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNNE14 km/h SSW321.6 m ▼dry15°flat
18:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNNE13 km/h SSW301.4 m ▼dry15°flat
19:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNNE15 km/h SSW281.4 m ▼dry14°flat
20:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNNE18 km/h SSW331.6 m dry14°flat
21:005 Grim0.2 m12 sNNE22 km/h SSW381.9 m dry14°flat
22:005 Grim0.2 m11 sNNE21 km/h SSW422.3 m dry14°flat
23:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN27 km/h SSW462.5 m dry14°flat
Sunday, 4 October
00:005 Grim0.1 m11 sN27 km/h SSW482.7 m ▲dry14°flat
01:005 Grim0.1 m11 sN31 km/h SSW492.8 m ▲dry14°flat
02:005 Grim0.1 m11 sN33 km/h SSW492.6 m dry14°flat
03:005 Grim0.1 m11 sN32 km/h SSW492.4 m dry14°flat
04:005 Grim0.1 m11 sN30 km/h SSW482.0 m dry14°flat
05:005 Grim0.1 m11 sN28 km/h SSW481.7 m 0.1 mm14°flat
06:005 Grim0.1 m11 sNNE24 km/h SSW461.6 m ▼0.1 mm14°flat
07:005 Grim0.1 m11 sNNE25 km/h SSW461.5 m ▼dry15°flat
08:005 Grim0.1 m11 sNNE24 km/h SW441.7 m dry15°flat
09:005 Grim0.1 m11 sNNE24 km/h SW431.9 m dry15°flat
10:005 Grim0.1 m11 sNNE23 km/h SW432.3 m dry15°flat
11:005 Grim0.1 m11 sNNE23 km/h WSW432.5 m dry16°flat
12:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN26 km/h SW442.8 m dry16°flat
13:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN26 km/h SW452.9 m ▲dry16°flat
14:005 Grim0.2 m11 sN25 km/h SW452.9 m ▲dry16°flat

Where the energy comes from

Wave energy (H²·T) this week by direction, against the swell window

Swell arriving between NW and SSE reaches this spot; anything else is blocked by land and counts for much less.

Tide today

Malin Head, 15 km away · metres above chart datum
04:2010:2517:0023:00
Low 04:20 · 1.0 mHigh 10:25 · 3.2 mLow 17:00 · 1.2 mHigh 23:00 · 3.0 m

The spot

Faces
40° NE
Swell window
NW 310° → SSE 150°
Exposure
Open coast · model cell 2.1 km out
Water
Excellent Quality · Blue Flag

Facing and swell window are derived from the wave model's coastline around the spot, not surveyed. Know better? Tell us.

Water quality

Recent grades: 2024 Excellent, 2023 Excellent, 2022 Excellent. The EPA flags a short-term pollution risk here after heavy rain.

Beach profile (PDF) · beaches.ie

On the ground

Lifeguard: YesToiletsParkingYesAccessible: YesDogs on lead (Dogs are not permitted in the Blue Flag Area of the beach from 12 pm to 7 pm (1st June to 15th September annually). Dogs are permitted on leads outside the Blue Flag Area at all times.)

As listed by Donegal County Council. Open in Maps.

Sauna after?

The Sea View Sauna (Culdaff) · Culdaff Beach car park · 1 km · fixed

The Sea View Sauna (Shroove) · Shroove Beach, Greencastle, Inishowen · 16 km · fixed

HotBox Sea Sauna (Benone) · Benone Strand, Magilligan, Co. Londonderry (NI) · 22 km · fixed

Sauna & Sea · Portstewart Strand (National Trust), Co. Londonderry (NI) · 30 km · fixed

Culdaff beach consists of a sandy beach with two rock outcrops at the south-east of the beach. The beach is contained to the west by sand dunes and to the north-west by the Culdaff River which has an extensive area of relatively unspoilt coastal habitats which support a range of plant and animal species. The catchment area is an idyllic location for bird watching and ecological activities. Activities include swimming, kayaking, boating, windsurfing, canoeing, surfing, shore angling and land-based activities such as walking, kite flying, rock climbing, etc.

Put Culdaff in your calendar

Dipper Plus drops the best surf hour here into your phone every day, with waves, sea temperature, tide and a 45-minute nudge. Up to three spots.

Set up Dipper Plus
🏄 Culdaff surf · Grim · sea 15° · 0.2 mFri, 2 Oct 14:30–15:30 · flat
🏄 Culdaff surf · Grim · sea 15° · 0.2 mSat, 3 Oct 07:30–08:30 · flat
🏄 Culdaff surf · Grim · sea 15° · 0.1 mSun, 4 Oct 07:30–08:30 · flat

Nearby spots

Drumlee Lough

6 km · Co. Donegal · Not classified

Lough Nastachan

7 km · Co. Donegal · Not classified

Lough Effish

7 km · Co. Donegal · Not classified

Black Lough

7 km · Co. Donegal · Not classified

Score is Dipper's own blend. It rates comfort, not safety. Forecast: Met Éireann. Waves: Marine Institute Irish Shelf wave model.