Cabarete Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s be real with you. I’ve been staring at the charts for the next couple of weeks, and I gotta be straight with you: it’s a bit of a wasteland out there for the surf. Not gonna sugarcoat it. The whole 16-day window is looking pretty grim, to be honest. There’s no good surf on offer, not a single day where I’d say "drop everything and go."

The problem is a steady, annoying cross-onshore wind that’s just messing up everything. It’s coming from the east-northeast, and it’s basically blowing straight across the face of the swell, chopping it all up. The waves themselves are small, mostly around the 1.3 ft to 4.6 ft mark, and the periods are short, which means it’s all wind-slop, not any real groundswell. The energy is weak to moderate, registering anywhere from 59 to 302, but it never has that punch to organize into anything rideable.

On the 18th, it’s a clear day, but the easterly wind at 15.5 mph is cross-on, making the 2.3 ft, 8-second swell a total mess. It’s choppy. Not worth the paddle.

The 19th through the 25th is the same old story. Winds pick up to 18.6-21.7 mph in the afternoons, making the small waves lumpy and ugly. A few mornings are a little lighter, but the wind direction is still all wrong. The swell stays below 4.6 ft, and it's all short-period junk. The water temp is a warm 84.2°, which is about average for this time of year, but that's about the only thing that's normal.

There is a slight change on the 26th and 27th. The period starts to climb, hitting 13 seconds on the 26th morning, and the energy bumps up to around 235. This is a longer-period groundswell, but it's coming from the east, and the wind's still cross-on. The longer period means it’ll be breaking straight and won't have any shape on a beach setup. It might make paddling out a bit easier with the longer lulls, but the surf quality is still poor. It's still not worth it.

The 28th and 29th see the wind ease off a touch, dropping to a gentle breeze on the morning of the 29th, and finally turning straight onshore. But the swell is still tiny, only 2.0 ft to 3.3 ft. Onshore wind and no swell equals flat and messy. Even on the 30th and 31st, we're looking at more of the same, with fresh breezes and cross-onshore winds ruining any potential.

The first days of September look just as bad. The 1st and 2nd have some bigger energy readings in the 181 to 302 range, but the period is all over the place, and the wind is still cross-on. It’s like the ocean is just confused.

The only breaks we have on the map are at Cabarete, a reef setup. This spot is consistent, but with these conditions, that doesn’t help. The optimum swell direction is from the NE, but all we’re seeing is E and ENE, which isn’t lining up. The winds are always cross-onshore, and the waves are too small and weak. The whole setup looks like it’d be more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, to be honest. The wind is up, the waves are messy, and it’s just not a surf day.

The bottom line? We’ve got a long, blank run. There’s nothing on the table for the next 16 days. It’s a normal thing for the area when the trades get like this, and forecasts can and do change. But right now, I’d save your energy. Do something else, because the surf is a no-go.

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