Pull
Models, not page views
A cron every three hours asks Open-Meteo for marine swell and weather for every beach at once. Pages read that snapshot. They do not call the model when you open a forecast.
Devon · Cornwall · South Wales
Findyourbreak
Surf report, not just swell
Live surf reports for Devon, Cornwall and South Wales. Swell, wind, tide, and the local knowledge to go with it.
Live surf reports for Devon, Cornwall and South Wales. Swell, wind, tide, and the local knowledge to go with it.
Today
Why
Why Barrel Monkey.
Magic Seaweed used to tell you when to go. Then it disappeared, swallowed by data and API problems that were too expensive to fix at the time. Nothing since has done what it did for this coastline.
We got tired of waiting for someone else to fix it.
Barrel Monkey is a surf forecast built by people who actually stand on these beaches, not a global tool built for anywhere. Devon, Cornwall, South Wales, the Atlantic run. That's it. That's the whole point.
03 / Our Data Model
How we process the numbers
Score
Wrap, wind and tide
Height is the swell that stands up on that beach after wrap, not the raw model number. Wind is read against the beach aspect. Tide is checked against the usual window. Fun, Clean, Pumping or Heavy is a Go. The rest is Wait.
Tide
Clocks from WorldTides
High and low stamps come from WorldTides when the stored clocks no longer cover the week on the desk. Swell still refreshes every three hours. Maps are Mapbox. Some stills come from Windy.
Sources Open-Meteo · WorldTides · Mapbox · Windy
04 / FAQ
Questions
Where does the forecast come from?
Swell, wind, weather and sea level come from Open-Meteo. High and low tide clocks come from WorldTides. Maps are Mapbox. Some stills and cameras come from Windy. We score those hours for each beach. We do not invent the swell.
How do you process the data?
The desk writes a week of hours on a three-hour cron, then scores each beach. Size is exposed swell after wrap, so a peak that only glances the bay reads smaller than the raw model. Wind is scored against the beach aspect. Tide is scored against that beach's usual window. The colour and Go or Wait you see is that score, not a second model.
Why is the height different from other sites?
Other boards often print the raw model swell. We print the swell that makes that beach after wrap. A west swell on a north-facing cove is not a direct hit, so the number comes down. The hero, today's week card and the first wave-table column are this hour. Later week cards are the best hour of that day. Same exposed height on every surface.
How often does the desk update?
Swell, wind and weather refresh about every three hours. Tide clocks stay until they no longer cover the week on the desk, then WorldTides writes a new stretch. If the snapshot is empty we show an empty desk rather than hitting the model on your visit.
Is this a guarantee I should paddle out?
No. Ratings are a guide from the model plus our score, not a look at the water. Conditions change. Check the beach with your own eyes, and do not treat a Go as a safety call.