Castelejo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it. Looking at the 16-day window for Castelejo, I gotta be honest with you: it’s a tough run. There’s no standout surf on offer here, and the whole period is pretty much a write-off for good paddle surfing. We’re looking at a solid gap of nothing but poor surf conditions from the start all the way through.

The first day we’ve got anything at all, July 14th, is a no-go. Tuesday morning has a tiny 2ft NW swell with a short period of 8 seconds, and the wind is onshore from the NNW. The water temp is sitting at 69°, which is about average for the time of year – nothing weird there. But the energy is weak (84), and it’s just poor surf. That’s the story for the next week and a half: small, weak swells under a constant barrage of onshore and cross-onshore winds. We’re talking 1ft to 4ft waves, mostly from the NW, with periods staying under 9 seconds. The wind is a fresh breeze from the NNW or NW most days, making it choppy and lumpy. Not a single session cracks a score above zero. For a break that’s usually very consistent, this is a dry spell, but it happens.

The middle of the second week, around July 22nd, the swell energy starts to pick up a bit, hitting a moderate 224 (combined energy), but the wave height is only 4ft and the wind is still fresh and onshore. It’s still poor. There’s a glimmer on July 24th, when a longer-period 12-second swell from the WNW shows up, with a combined energy of 392. But again, the wind is a fresh cross-onshore, making it lumpy. The size is only 3ft, so it’s not doing much.

Now, the biggest swell of the whole period hits on July 25th and 26th. July 25th morning has a solid 7ft NW swell with an 11-second period, pushing the combined energy to a strong 981. That’s a proper groundswell. But—and it’s a big but—the wind is still screaming cross-onshore from the NNW at 22 mph. The same story on the 26th. Castelejo is a beach and reef setup, so with that much wind and that size, it’s going to be a mess. Honestly, on those days, with the fresh cross-onshore and lumpy conditions, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. The water is too blown out for a clean wave. The swell is over 5ft, so it’s too big for beginners, and the choppy conditions make it only for the most experienced, and even then, it’s not good.

The forecast isn’t promising at all. With no consistent windows of clean conditions, this is a normal blank run for the area. The forecasts can change, but right now, I’d save the petrol. There’s nothing here worth paddling out for.

Rusty.

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