Wave Forecasts from Donegal to Bantry Bay

The highest resolution wave forecast model available for Ireland – one kilometre resolution - is now available on marine.ie where surfers, sailors, and fishermen can get six day wave forecasts for the West coast of Ireland from Donegal to Bantry Bay. The wave forecast service also provides information on wind speed and direction, which is of particular interest to surfers seeking out the perfect wave.

The wave model which predicts wave height, direction and period down to one kilometre, was originally developed to assess the suitability of Galway Bay for a wave energy test site. The test site, located just off the coast from Spiddal, has been up and running for just over a year now and has seen two wave energy prototypes tested there by Irish wave energy developers, Wavebob Ltd and Ocean Energy Ltd. 

The wave forecaster was further developed because of it’s usefulness for surfers, sailors, fishermen and other water users. Plans for the future are to extend coverage to the entire coastline and to provide access to the data so that users can download information into applications, such as, Google Earth’s web mapping service to create their own data sets.

Wave modelling will also be used to help locate suitable sites for finfish aquaculture and shellfish farms.

The Marine Institute website is already popular with surfers because of our weather buoy page which provides hourly real-time information on current wind and wave conditions through a network of six weather buoys around the coast.

Another good reason to bookmark marine.ie!