El Barco Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s get into it for El Barco. Honestly, it’s a tale of two halves over the next couple of weeks. The first week is a tough slog, but if you can hold out, the second week has a moment that’s genuinely worth circling on the calendar.

We start off with hardly a ripple. From Thursday the 30th of July right through to Monday the 3rd of August, it’s a flat, frustrating run. The swell is tiny, barely kicking above 2 feet, and the wind is mostly a cross-off or cross-on breeze that just won’t give us a clean face. The wave energy is weak to moderate, with values like 89 (weak) and 114 (moderate) on Thursday, but the surf is described as poor. It’s not worth getting the board wet.

Monday the 3rd of August does see a little bump – a 3 foot SSE swell arriving with a 11-second period, and the morning has light winds. The combined energy sits at 180 (moderate). Still, conditions are just “ordinary.” It’s a tease, not a ticket to ride.

We get a few more days of the same low-quality grind through to the 9th of August. Small swells, short periods (6-11 seconds), and winds that are all over the shop – cross-off, cross-on, and even some onshore stuff. The wave energy stays moderate, popping up to 293 on Thursday the 6th of August for an afternoon, but that’s paired with a strong 28 mph cross-onshore wind and a messy 6 foot swell. That’s more of a kiteboarding session than a surf, to be honest.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. The standout is on Tuesday the 11th of August morning. The forecast is firing. We’ve got a solid 6 foot swell from the south with an 11-second period, and the combined energy is a whopping 786 (strong). That’s real power. But the best part? The wind is glassy – a flat calm “Slight air” – so it’s going to be clean as a whistle. This is a classic window of quality for El Barco. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, sitting around 54° and just a touch warmer than normal. The rest of that week leading up to it has some cleaner conditions, but nothing else comes close to that Tuesday morning glass. The afternoon does turn a bit crumbly with a light cross-onshore ripple, so get out early.

After that, the swell drops off again into the second week, with smaller, choppier days taking over from the 13th of August. The energy falls back to 298 and lower, and the wind picks up onshore. So really, if you’re looking for a true standout, it’s that Tuesday morning on the 11th of August. The rest is mostly a waiting game.

-Rusty

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