El Barco Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a look at what's comin' our way. Straight up, I gotta be honest with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for El Barco. We’ve got a real long stretch of poor conditions ahead, so don’t hold your breath for any solid sessions.

The whole thing kicks off with a tiny window on Sunday, July 5th. It’s not much – just a little 3ft ESE swell rolling in with a 10-second period, and the wind is glassy as anything. It's enough to get a few fun little lines, but nothing to write home about. After that, get ready for a massive flat spell. We’re talking several days of almost nothing rideable. Monday the 6th brings a jump in wind to a nasty 25 mph cross-shore with a bumpy 5ft swell, and it just gets messier from there. The whole week is dead, with tiny scraps of swell and mostly onshore or cross winds ruining what little there is. There are a few moments of glassy conditions on Thursday the 9th, but with only 1ft on offer, you’d be better off doing something else.

This dry run keeps going straight through the next weekend and into the following week. The only flicker of life comes on Sunday, July 12th, where the afternoon looks like it might just scrape a "good surf conditions" label. We've got a 2ft ESE groundswell with a long 13-second period and light offshore winds. The combined energy is a moderate 220 – not huge, but with that period and clean conditions, it could actually offer the best wave shape of the whole forecast. For a dedicated longboarder, it might be worth a paddle, but for everyone else, it’s a tease.

The real standout, the only one that truly gets my blood pumping, is much further down the line. Look toward Saturday, July 18th. After what feels like an eternity of nothing, we finally see a pulse of real energy. The afternoon session there is the best on offer, no question. An offshore wind from the north at just 6 mph will groom a 4ft SSE swell (12-second period) into clean, lined-up waves. The combined energy hits a beefy 419 (moderate-to-strong), showing there's some proper oomph behind it. This is the one to circle on your calendar. The swell direction is a perfect match for the spot, and that light offshore breeze will keep the faces smooth. It won't be a huge day for the big guys, but the quality should be well above average. Keep in mind, this is a long-range call, so keep your fingers crossed the forecasts hold.

Before that, a couple of earlier days deserve a mention but aren’t standouts. The morning of Saturday, July 18th has a bit of energy (4ft, combined energy 619 – strong) but with a fresh 22 mph cross-off breeze, it’s going to be lumpy. The afternoon of Sunday, July 19th has the biggest swell of the whole period, a 6ft SSE groundswell with a very long 15-second period, but it's being hammered by a 19 mph cross-shore wind, so magic it is not. That’s expert territory for the size and will be a messy, choppy mess.

So to sum it up: don't bother waxing up for the next week and a half. Save your energy. The only real standout to aim for is the afternoon of Saturday, July 18th. Get on it if you can. After that, conditions look like they’ll fall apart again, but we’ll see. Keep an eye on the sky.

Rusty.

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