Cabarete Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: this outlook for Cabarete is a tough one. Over the full 16-day window, there isn’t a single moment that ticks all the boxes for a good, clean surf. The wind is almost always a cross-onshore breeze, messing up the surface, and the wave quality just isn’t there. The consistency is there – Cabarete is a consistent spot – but the quality is missing. It’s one of those spells where you’ll be watching the horizon more than riding it.

The pattern is pretty clear from the get-go. Wednesday the 2nd kicks off with a bit of energy – a weak 3ft easterly swell, but it’s blown out by a moderate to fresh cross-onshore wind. The water is warm at 85°, which is pretty normal for this time of year. But that’s about the only nice thing to say. The combined energy is weak to moderate, reading 118 on Wednesday morning, ticking up to 141 by the afternoon. Still, it’s all poor surf conditions.

Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th are even smaller, with heights dropping to 1ft to 3ft and the wind staying ugly from the east-northeast. The period is short, around 5 to 8 seconds, so the waves are weak and jumbled. The combined energy dips into the double digits (29, 35, 40) – very weak stuff.

The weekend (Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th) isn’t any kinder. We get a slight bump to 4ft on Saturday afternoon, with a period of 8 seconds and moderate energy (161), but the wind is a fresh 19 mph cross-onshore that chops it all up. That trend holds through the entire first week and into the second.

By the second week, the swell ticks up a touch. From around the 10th of September through the 13th, we see some slightly better swell heights, peaking at 5ft on Saturday the 12th with a combined energy of 266. The period stays around 8 seconds, which is okay, but not the long-period groundswell you’d dream about. And through it all, that damned easterly wind stays cross-onshore, keeping the face lumpy and unattractive.

The last few days from the 15th onward drop back down to 2ft to 3ft, with energy fading to the 50-100 range. No standout days. No window of offshore or even light wind.

So, the honest truth? For paddle surfing, this is a 16-day blank run. Cabarete is a consistent break, so this kind of prolonged poor quality is a bit of a bummer, but it happens. The setup with the cross-onshore wind and the moderate swell is actually more interesting for the kite crowd than for us surfers. If you’re absolutely desperate for a splash, you might find a clean-up set on the Friday afternoon (11th) or Saturday morning (12th) in the lull between wind gusts, but it’s a gamble.

Keep an eye on it; forecasts can change. But right now, I’d leave the board in the car and grab a cold drink.

Rusty.

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