Cabarete Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I’m looking at the next 16 days for Cabarete. I’m not going to sugarcoat it – this one’s a bummer. The forecast is locked into a stubborn easterly wind, blowing straight across the reef. That means the surf is going to be choppy and messy for the foreseeable future. There’s no hidden gem here.

The outlook kicks off on Saturday, July 18th. We’ve got a 4ft swell out of the east, but it’s a short-period windswell at 7 seconds. The wind is a stiff 16 mph cross-on from the east. The water’s 83°, which is dead average for this time of year. The combined energy is weak, at 163. It’s just poor, choppy conditions. Nothing for a surfer to get excited about.

That pattern sets in hard. Sunday the 19th through Tuesday the 22nd of July is the same dreary scene: 4ft to 4ft windswell, east, 7 seconds, with moderate to fresh cross-onshore winds. The energy stays low, and every session is labeled as poor surf. It’s a real gut punch.

The swell does pick up a bit around Sunday, July 26th. We see waves hitting 5ft with the period stretching to 8 seconds. The energy climbs into the 200s, hitting 279 on the afternoon. But the core problem never changes: the wind is still 16 to 22 mph cross-on from the east. That onshore breeze just chops everything up. This is a beach-and-reef setup with persistent wind, so honestly, this looks way more interesting for a kite surfer than someone on a paddle board.

This same story repeats right through the end of July. The 29th, 30th, and 31st all have waves in the 4ft to 5ft range, periods of 7 to 8 seconds, and energy that spikes into the 300s on a few occasions. But again, cross-onshore wind, every single time. No hint of that clean offshore wind we’d need.

As we roll into August, it fades out. The 1st and 2nd of August see the swell drop below 3ft and the energy crash down to 79. The wind is still on it. The last few days are just a weak finish.

So I’ve got to call it: not a single session in these 16 days gets the green light. The relentless onshore wind from the east is the problem. Cabarete is a consistent reef, so it doesn’t usually stay bad for this long, but right now it’s a blank run. For a clean wave, you’re better off waiting for a change.

Rusty, out.

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