Arrieta Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let’s talk about the next couple of weeks at Arrieta.

Honestly, for a spot with this kind of potential, it’s a tough start. The whole period kicks off with a pretty grim run. For the first week, it’s mostly onshore and cross-shore winds, with messy, lumpy conditions that make it hard to get excited. The swell is there, size-wise, but it’s just not cooperating.

We start on Friday morning (Aug 28th) with a fresh 22 mph NNE cross-wind and a 7ft NNE swell, but it's short period (7 seconds) and the water is a mess. The water temp is a touch warmer than normal at 76°F, but that’s about the only positive. This continues straight through the weekend and into the following week. There is a brief window of clean surf on Sunday afternoon (Aug 30th) and Tuesday afternoon (Sept 1st), but the winds are still strong and the energy is mostly moderate. The combined energy does jump up significantly on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept 2nd-3rd), hitting strong levels (1111), but with 25 mph cross-winds, that 10ft swell is just going to be a wall of white water. It’s not the kind of size you want without good wind.

The real turn-around comes on Friday, September 4th. This is the standout. Friday morning we get a 5ft N swell at 8 seconds, but the key is the wind: a light 9 mph NW offshore breeze. The water cleans right up. The energy is low (291), so it's not a beast, but it's clean and rideable. That afternoon gets even better with a 6 mph WNW offshore, with 5ft surf. This is the best wave quality we’ll see so far.

Arrieta (reef) will be the pick on Friday (Sept 4th) and Saturday (Sept 5th) mornings, with that light offshore wind making for clean faces on the N/NW swell. It’s a reef break, which is key here, as these short period swells need a good bathymetry to shape up. It’s inconsistent, so be patient, but when a set comes through, it will be worth it. Remember the water is a touch warmer than average for the time of year.

After that, the surf winds down and gets real small. From Sunday (Sept 6th) through Tuesday (Sept 8th), we’re looking at knee-to-waist high mush, with clean but weak conditions. The energy drops right off (down to 126). Then we start to see a slow build again. A new swell tries to push in around the 10th and 11th of September, with clean conditions on the 11th morning, and swell size back up near 6ft. The energy is moderate (657-913), but the winds are mostly cross or cross-off, and it never really gets clean offshore consistently.

Overall, it’s a flat and frustrating start, a few clean but small days in the middle, and then a lot of grovelly, messy options for the future. The best bet is definitely the clean, offshore windows on September 4th and 5th. After that, it’s a waiting game for the next proper groundswell.

- Rusty

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