Castelejo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve got to be straight with you – the next two weeks at Castelejo are a real mixed bag, and honestly, mostly a struggle. The water's sitting at 19°, which is a massive 3° colder than normal for this time of year, so you’ll want a thick suit. There’s a lot of onshore wind and messy swell on the cards, but there are a couple of windows that might just save the trip.

The first real chance to get wet doesn’t come until Thursday the 3rd of September. Thursday morning has a clean 3ft NW swell (110 energy), with a gentle cross-offshore breeze from the ENE. It’s surfable, but nothing to write home about. Thursday afternoon drops to 2ft NW (68 energy) but stays clean with a light offshore from the SSE. Decent for a small-wave session.

Friday the 4th is a write-off with cross-on winds and poor conditions. Saturday the 5th isn’t much better, though the morning has a light cross-shore and the afternoon sees a clean 2ft NW (102 energy) with a cross-off breeze – still only ordinary.

Sunday the 6th through to Wednesday the 10th is a rough stretch. The swell picks up, hitting 4ft on Sunday morning (456 energy) and building to 7ft by Tuesday the 8th (738 energy), but the wind is relentless cross-on from the NNW, gusting over 18 mph. The surf is poor, lumpy, and choppy. For a beach and reef setup like Castelejo, this is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Things settle a little on Thursday the 11th of September. The morning is glassy with a 3ft NW swell (150 energy). That’s a rare clean window, but the swell is weak and short-period (6 seconds). It’s surfable, but very ordinary.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. The standout of the whole forecast is Monday the 14th of September. The morning session looks the goods: a 4ft NW groundswell (396 energy) with a 12-second period, and a light cross-offshore breeze from the east. Conditions are clean. That’s your best bet for a proper surf. The swell direction from the NW is spot on for this break. The afternoon is a letdown with onshore wind, so make the most of the morning.

The rest of the second week is a mix of small, weak swells and onshore winds. The 16th of September kicks up to 5ft NW (379 energy), but the wind is cross-on and choppy. The 17th and 18th follow the same pattern of poor conditions.

So, the bottom line: the first real chance is a tiny window on the 11th, but the clear winner is Monday morning the 14th of September. Get in early that day, because the wind turns on you. The rest of the time, it’s a battle.

Rusty.

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