Arrieta Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get this straight. I’ve looked at the charts for the next couple of weeks, and to be honest, it’s a bit of a flat, frustrating run for the most part. The swell’s gonna be there, but it’s mostly short-period, wind-blown stuff, not the kind of clean, lined-up waves that get me excited. We’ll see a bit of a bump in size mid-period, but the wind’s gonna be a persistent issue, keeping things lumpy and cross-chopped more often than not.

Right out of the gate this Saturday morning, it’s small and unappealing. We’ve got ankle to knee-high waves at Arrieta (this is a reef set-up, and it’s a sheltered spot, don’t forget), with about 4ft of swell coming from the NNE at 7 seconds. The energy is weak, reading at 213, and, well, it’s just poor. The north wind keeps it semi-clean, but there’s just nothing to get on.

Over the next few days, through Sunday and Monday, we’re seeing some slightly bigger swell, up to 6ft on Monday morning, but the period is still in that short, bumpy 6-7 second range. The wind’s picking up a bit too, so it’s just a messy, onshore-ish mess. The energy is climbing, hitting a moderate 370 by Monday morning, but the quality is just not there.

Tuesday and Wednesday the wind swings more to the northeast, and we start seeing a cross-shore situation, leaving the ocean looking lumpy and cross-chopped. The swell gets a touch bigger, around 6ft, and the energy is in the moderate range, around 321-347, but the waves are just not clean. It’s the kind of day you’d rather be doing something else.

Then we get a bit of a pulse. Thursday the 6th brings a jump to 7ft of NNE swell, and the energy jumps to a strong 573. Still, it’s short-period, 7-8 seconds, so it’s going to be a sectiony, closed-out mess at this reef break. Plus the winds, while cross-offshore, are strong, in the 22-25 mph range. It’s going to be big and raw, but not good. It might look more interesting for the kite surfers than anyone on a paddleboard.

This stronger but messy theme continues through the following week. We see the swell staying 5ft to 7ft, with moderate to strong energy values (256 up to 549). The period creeps up a tiny bit, touching 8 seconds on the 14th, and even hits 10 seconds on the very last day, the 16th. But the wind keeps swinging between a fresh cross and cross-off, so it’s constantly being chopped up. The theme here is a lot of water moving, but not a lot of quality waves for the average punter.

Honestly, the only standout, if you can call it that, is later in the run. On the 16th of August, we’ve got a 6ft swell from the north at a longer 10-second period. That’s the best period we see all window. The energy is strong, reading 549, and even though the wind is cross-shore, there might be a window in the afternoon where it’s a bit more manageable. But the swell direction is more straight north, which isn’t the optimum N direction for this spot. It’s a promising sign, but don’t get your hopes up too high just yet, it’s a long way out.

So, to sum up, we have a lot of mediocre surf. Some size, but poor quality, and the wind is the main culprit. There’s no real “go-time” in this forecast. The swell is too short-period and the winds are too tricky for anything to really link up. It’s one of those periods where the ocean is doing something, but it’s not doing the thing we want.

Keep an eye on that last day or two, but for now, I’d be finding a new hobby for a while.

Rusty

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