Thurso East: The Best Right In Britain Is Also The Furthest Away

Thurso East is a right-hand reef at the mouth of the River Thurso, on the north coast of Caithness, under the ruins of Thurso Castle. On its day it's one of the best waves in Europe. It's also about as far from most of the UK as you can drive without a ferry, the water is the colour of tea, and the reef doesn't care how far you came.

The wave

A long, flat slab of reef with a right peeling down it, hollow and fast in a proper swell. There's a takeoff zone, a section that throws, and a wall after that if you make it. The reef is shallow and covered in kelp. The river runs out across it, so after rain the water goes dark brown with peat and there's a current pulling you down the point.

This is not a learner's wave, or an improver's one either. If you're still working on your bottom turn, this isn't the place to finish learning it. Come and watch, by all means. It's one of the best free shows in British surfing.

When to go

• Swell: Northwest to north. The north coast gets the Atlantic lows tracking between Iceland and Scotland, so autumn through spring is the season. It can go flat for long spells in summer.
• Wind: Anything with south in it is offshore, which is the one thing the north coast has going for it in a country full of southwesterlies. Northerlies blow it out.
• Tide: Ask the locals and you'll get several answers. As a rule, mid to higher tides give it more water over the reef. Lower tides get shallower and ledgier, and you'll see more of the reef than you'd like. The river adds its own current, which is stronger after a wet week. Look before you paddle out, and watch a few sets break first.
• Daylight: In December you get roughly six and a half hours of it. Plan the drive around that, not the other way round.

What it'll cost you

Water bottoms out around 7°C in March and only reaches about 13°C at the end of summer, and it's colder still when the river's in flood. A 5/4 hooded suit, 5mm boots and gloves for most of the year, and a 6/5 if you run cold. Month-by-month figures are in UK Sea Temperatures By Month.

Then there's the getting there. It's about two and a half hours north of Inverness, and a long day's drive from anywhere in England. Once you arrive, the bit after the session is as cold as the session. A Fisherman Beanie goes on first, a Core Hood goes on with wet hair, and a changing mat keeps your feet off the frozen ground.

The honest bit

There's one peak and a small, committed local crew who surf it in conditions most of us would watch from the van. Act accordingly: sit wide, wait your turn, don't turn up with four mates and paddle straight to the top. If it's busy and you're not sure you can make the wave, there's no shame in going somewhere else. Bailing on the takeoff here doesn't just ruin your own wave.

When it's too big, too small or not for you, the north coast has options. Dunnet Bay, to the east, is a long sandy beach that picks up most swells and suits the rest of us. Brims Ness, to the west, is a cluster of reefs that holds bigger swell and is also for experienced surfers only.

Changing happens on the grass and the track by the river, in whatever's coming in off the Pentland Firth. Some of that is farm and estate land, so park where you're not in anyone's way and take everything home with you. We're building something for exactly this bit.

More UK breaks in the Guide to Spots. For the other side of the country, where the North Sea does the work, see Saltburn.

Kit built for exactly these conditions, not the brochure version. svrf.uk

Header photo: Thurso by Paulina Herpel on Unsplash.