Surfing in Teignmouth

SURFING IN TEIGNMOUTH

Teignmouth is an easterly facing beach break located in the south of Devon. Offering rare swell windows, Teignmouth has a dedicated crew of locals and despite its lack of consistent waves, the lineup is normally populated by very good surfers.

Teignmouth beach offers waves through the majority of the tide and is often one of the few offshore beaches due to its easterly-facing direction and the prevalent westerly winds.

Surfing in Teignmouth also benefits from a dedicated advert-free webcam so you can always check surf conditions before committing to surf.

You can check out the live Teignmouth surf webcam here.

surfing teignmouth

Surf spots in Teignmouth

Teignmouth has a wide variety of waves in the local proximity giving surfers the option to check several surf spots in a very short time.

When you arrive in Teignmouth you can head down to the seafront to find Teignmouth’s main surf beach.

Teignmouth surf spots

Teignmouth beach

The beach at Teignmouth is split by a large historical pier to the western end of the beach.

As a general rule waves are always better to the east of the pier (the left-hand side of the pier if you’re looking out to sea).

Scoring the town beach can be quite hard due to the short tide window available.

The beach is plagued by large outer banks that can sap a lot of the wave’s power before it eventually reaches the surfable inside banks of the main beach.

As the tide pushes over the outer banks swell will become more concentrated on the inner banks creating the short, punchy rides that Teignmouth is well known for.

Due to the fast, steep nature of waves at Teignmouth beach, it’s normally best to surf on a shortboard to help with the steep drops and reactive surfing.

When the waves are good here you can often find quiet peaks to yourself further up the beach at different stages of the tide.

The Ness

Located across the bridge from Teignmouth to Shaldon, The Ness often called the Ness Cove is a fairly exposed beach break offering banks all up and down the stretch of red sand.

The bottom is predominantly sand with the occasional rocky outcrop acting as reefs for different stages of the tide.

You can surf here from low to mid tide, at high tide the waves tend to dump straight onto the beach making for a spectacular shore dump that isn’t really suitable for surfing.

When the waves are on here you can find A-frame peaks with varying degrees of power and length of ride.

It rarely gets busy here so finding quiet waves is fairly easy if you’re willing to walk the length of the beach.

Surfing at the Ness can be quite spectacular, it’s backed by large cliffs with fantastic views of the surrounding coastline.

The walk down to the beach involves a long tunnel with a large set of stairs.

There is also a paid car park on the hill above the break making parking to surf an expensive but straightforward task.

Much like Terignmouth the standard of surfing is fairly high despite the lack of regular swell.

Make sure to respect the locals here and avoid visiting in large groups.

Holcombe Beach

Holcombe is located at the north end of Teignmouth beach.

This fickle wave rarely works and when it does it’s busy.

Surfing here comes with its own set of rather unpleasant risks, raw sewage is regularly discharged into the surf at this spot.

The wave quality is very hit and miss and combined with the sewage you’re probably better looking for waves elsewhere.

Holcombe is currently under threat from plans to extend the breakwater further out to sea effectively destroying any chance of a surfable wave here.

You can find out more and sign up to help over at https://www.savethebeach.co.uk/.

Other surf spots around Teignmouth

If you’re willing to search there are some lesser-known waves around the Teignmouth area.

If Teignmouth is too small you can consider surfing at Sidmouth or Exmouth providing the swell is coming from a southwest direction.

You can also find surfable waves in Dawlish and Dawlish Warren when Teignmouth is breaking but the waves here can be very fickle and often lacking power.

Check out our guide on surfing Dawlish and Dawlish Warren to find out more before you plan your next surf trip.

Is it dangerous surfing in Teignmouth?

The main danger of surfing Teignmouth is the large estuary mouth located between Teignmouth and Shaldon.

While the estuary mouth does sometimes offer up some dreamy-looking waves the currents here are immense and trying to paddle out will likely lead to a coast guard rescue so please don’t attempt it.

The other major danger surfing here is sewage which can be an issue in this area after heavy rains.

What’s the best time of year to surf Teignmouth?

Predominantly October to February will be most likely to provide surfable waves.

However, unlike the majority of the waves on this coastline, Teignmouth’s easterly facing direction means it can often benefit from small easterly wind swells that can deliver fun surfable waves even on hot summer days.

Where can you park to surf in Teignmouth?

The easiest place to park is on the seafront with the added bonus that you can currently get an hour’s parking, great for a quick after-work surf.