Castelejo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Look, I've got to be straight with you – this 16-day window for Castelejo is a tough one. It's a beach and reef setup that's exposed to the NW, and it's very consistent, but the wind and swell just aren't playing ball. The water's sitting at 66° with a temperature anomaly of -4°, which is much colder than normal for this time of year, so you'll want a thick wetsuit.

The short of it is, there's no good surf options on offer. The whole forecast is a write-off for quality waves. The wind is almost always onshore or cross-onshore, mostly from the NNW, mixing up the surface and making it choppy or lumpy. Even when the swell has a bit of energy, the wind ruins it.

We start off with Sunday the 2nd of August, and it's a dud. Morning has a 3ft NNW swell with a short period of 6 seconds, cross-on winds at 16 mph, and weak energy (108). The afternoon is onshore, 2ft of W swell, and still poor. That sets the tone.

Monday the 3rd and Tuesday the 4th are the same story – small surf, poor conditions. The swell energy is negligible, ranging from 50 to 112. The wind is onshore, keeping everything messy.

From Wednesday the 5th through to the end of the first week, we see a bit more swell energy, hitting moderate levels (up to 240), but the wind gets stronger. By Thursday the 6th, we've got 4ft to 5ft of NNW swell, but it's short period (6 seconds) and cross-onshore at 22 mph. It's lumpy and not worth paddling out for. Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th are similar, with fresh cross-onshore winds keeping the surface blown out.

The second week doesn't offer any relief. From Sunday the 9th onwards, it's the same pattern. The swell direction stays mainly NNW, and the wind is almost always onshore or cross-onshore. There's a period on Tuesday the 11th where the swell period drops to just 4 seconds – that's pure wind chop, not surfable. The strongest energy comes through on Friday the 14th of August, with a 5ft NW swell and a moderate energy of 510, but it's still cross-onshore and choppy. The swell direction is NW, which is the optimum direction for Castelejo, but with the wind howling from the NNW, it's a lost cause.

Given the persistent onshore winds and the beach-and-reef setup, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Honestly, it's a blank run. Castelejo is very consistent, so it tends not to stay this poor for long, but right now, the forecasts are showing nothing but poor surf conditions right through to Monday the 17th of August. Keep an eye on it, but don't hold your breath.

Rusty.

Read more