Cabarete Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. Rusty here.

Right now and for the next week, Cabarete is dealing with a pretty rough run of surf. The wind has been hammering in from the east and east-northeast, blowing cross-on shore and keeping the ocean lumpy, choppy, or straight up messy. The swell is small for days on end—usually under 4 ft—and the period is short, mostly 5 to 8 seconds, so there’s hardly any push in the water. The combined swell energy is weak to moderate at best, staying under 250 for most of the first week. There’s just nothing worth paddling out for. This stretch runs from Monday the 24th of August all the way through to the end of the month with zero decent options.

Late in the week, around Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th, you start seeing energy tick up a little, with combined swell readings hitting the 180-200 mark, but the wind is still ruining it. Cross-on and fresh, no good.

It’s not until Monday the 31st of August that things get interesting from a swell perspective. A very long period groundswell fills in from the east, pushing 15 seconds and with combined energy shooting up to 779 and then 816. That’s proper energy. The swell height sits around 4 ft, and the direction is east-southeast. If the wind was offshore or light, Cabarete’s reef could be epic, but unfortunately it’s still cross-on from the east and moderate breezes. The water temperature is about 84°F, which is bang on average for this time of year.

The real standout is Tuesday the 1st of September. The swell jumps to nearly 7 ft from the east-northeast with a 13-second period. Combined energy goes over 1200—strong wave energy—but again the cross-on wind ruins the surface. The morning is given a marginal nod, but it’s not clean. For a reef break that really wants offshore from the southwest, this persistent easterly wind is a killer. If you’re an experienced surfer and you don’t mind some chop, you could find some power out there, but it’s not the clean, lined-up wave Cabarete is famous for.

Because the wind never truly cleans up through the whole 16-day window, and the swell direction always hits from the east (not the preferred northeast for the reef’s optimum), there’s no proper highlight here. The most powerful days are around the 1st and 2nd of September, but they come with messy conditions. If you’re a kite surfer, this steady cross-easterly wind and building swell looks way more appealing than it does for a paddle surfer.

To be straight with you: there isn’t a single moment in this 16-day forecast where I’d call it a good surf day at Cabarete. The reef is exposed, the swell comes, but the wind just won’t cooperate. It’s a long blank run, and unfortunately that’s just how it goes sometimes here when the trades lock in from the east.

Rusty.

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