Cabarete Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for surfing around here. We've got a solid stretch of nothing but onshore wind and lumpy, messy surf. The open ocean is churning, but it's all getting chopped up before it ever reaches us. Looking at the bigger picture, the energy is there, but the quality is just not. It’s one of those frustrating times where there’s a lot of water moving but none of it is rideable.

The first few days, starting August 4th, are a write-off. We're looking at cross-on winds and short-period, weak swell. The energy is weak, reading around 113, with a swell height of just 4ft and a period of 7 seconds. It's just a mess. The water temp is 84°, which is about normal for this time of year, but you won't care about that when you're getting blown off your board.

This pattern continues through the first week. The wind stays cross-on, the swell stays short and weak, and the surf stays poor. Every session through August 9th is a no-go. The swell period is mostly under 8 seconds, which means it's just blown-out, wind-driven junk. The wind is a constant issue, ranging from 12 to 22 mph, just ruining any chance of a clean face.

We'll see the swell start to build a little from August 10th through the 14th, but the wind stays stubbornly cross-on. The energy picks up into the 100s and 200s, but it's all for nothing. Seeing the swell height nudge up to 5ft by the 14th is just a tease. It's all still short-period and onshore. The forecast is blank for this whole period, so there isn't a single standout spot to try.

The second week, from August 15th onward, the swell actually gets a bit more serious. The combined swell energy gets well into the 200s and 300s, and the swell height pushes 5ft on the 15th and 16th. But the wind, that evil east wind, stays right in our face. It's still cross-on and it's still choppy. Even with more water moving, the period only climbs to 8 seconds, which isn't enough to organize the ocean floor. The setup looks more interesting for the kite surfers than for us paddle surfers, to be honest.

The long-range stuff, around August 17th to 19th, follows the same story. The swell holds in the 4ft to 5ft range with moderate energy, but the conditions are still poor. There are no breaks being highlighted because there's simply nothing surfable. The wind, the short period, it's all against us. We just have to wait for this stubborn pattern to break. The forecast can change, and with this much swell in the water, it tends not to stay poor for long. But for now, leave the board in the car and save yourself the frustration.

Rusty, out.

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