El Arenal Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, looking at the sixteen-day picture for El Arenal. Honestly, it's a bit of a rough patch for most of it. The wind is persistently a problem, coming across or onshore and messing with the shape. There's a decent amount of swell pulsing through, but it never really lines up with clean conditions until the very end of the period. The water's sitting at 77°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year.

We start out pretty grim. Wednesday the 2nd has a 6ft NE swell, but it's cross-shore with a fresh 16 mph wind, making it messy. The combined swell energy is a moderate 511. That pattern sticks around for days. Thursday the 3rd is a write-off with cross-shore and cross-onshore winds. Friday the 4th through to the end of the first week, it's all onshore or cross-onshore, with swell from the NNE at around 3ft to 4ft – just ugly.

Into the second week, Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th see the swell build back up to 6ft to 6ft from the NNE, with moderate to strong wave energy (over 500), but again, it's cross-shore or cross-onshore with breezes up to 19 mph. No good for a paddle; looking more like a kite-surfing setup.

Now, we do finally get a bit of a reprieve. Sunday the 13th morning is the standout. It's glassy, with a slight air, and while the swell is small at 2ft from the WNW, that clean surface will make any wave you catch feel special. It's surfable, though the conditions are very ordinary. The combined energy is weak at 126.

A week after that, on Tuesday the 15th, we start to see some proper groundswell potential, but it's still not perfect. The morning has a 4ft NW swell with a long 12-second period and moderate cross-shore from the NE, with light winds. The wave energy jumps to a strong 776! The afternoon holds 5ft from the NNW with a very long 14-second period and strong energy (796), though the cross-shore wind is a bit stiffer. Wednesday the 16th is similar, with a 4ft NNW swell at a long 13 seconds and moderate cross-shore, just marginal due to the wind. These last couple of days are your best chance at some real power, but the wind is just keeping it from being clean.

So, for the best on offer, I'd say look at the glassy morning on Sunday the 13th if you want a clean little session, or aim for the following Tuesday and Wednesday, the 15th and 16th, for the bigger, more powerful groundswell, even if the surface might have a bit of texture.

Rusty.

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