El Brusco Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here.

Look, I’ll be straight with you—this is a grim stretch for El Brusco. The whole 16-day window is a write-off. There’s absolutely no good surf on offer, and I mean zero. The forecast keeps spitting out "poor surf conditions" from start to finish, so we’re looking at a full-blown flat spell with barely a bump worth paddling for.

Right now, starting Sunday July 5th, we’ve got tiny 2ft NW swell with a period of 11 seconds, but the wind is cross from the ENE at 6 mph, making it light cross-shore with ripples. The combined wave energy is weak (99). The water is a very warm 72°, which is 6° above the long-term average for this time of year—that’s very unusual, almost like a warm bath compared to normal. But it doesn’t matter ’cause the waves are rubbish.

The next several days are just more of the same: small dribbles between 0.7ft and 2ft from the NW, with a mix of cross and cross-on winds. The swell period drops to 8 or 9 seconds, energy stays weak (mostly under 100), and it’s consistently labeled "poor surf conditions." Tuesday July 7th sees a shift to a WNW wind, cross-on at 9-12 mph, making it choppy. Nothing to get excited about.

We get a brief moment of glassy conditions on Thursday July 9th morning—wind from the NNW at 3 mph, still only 2ft NW swell with a 10-second period, but the waves are still deemed "poor." It’s clean but too small to do anything with. Friday July 10th and Saturday July 11th are back to light cross-shore breezes and tiny NW swell.

The whole first week is a bust. There’s a gap of about 10 days with no recommendations at all. By Monday July 13th, we see a tiny bump to 3ft NNW swell, with glassy conditions in the morning, but the period is a short 8 seconds and energy is still weak (94). It’s still "poor surf conditions." The afternoon gets a moderate cross-onshore at 12 mph, choppy.

It’s not until Friday July 17th that we finally see some size—4ft NNW swell in the morning, period 9 seconds, with moderate cross-shore winds at 12 mph. The combined energy jumps to 207 (moderate), but the quality is still poor. The afternoon gets bigger—5ft NW swell, period 9 seconds, energy hits 397—but it’s cross-onshore at 12 mph, making it choppy. Saturday July 18th is the biggest day: 5ft to 6ft NW swell, period 8-9 seconds, with moderate cross-shore winds and energy up to 538 (strong). But again, it’s all "poor surf conditions." This is a beach break, and with that much swell, a short period, and cross-winds, it’s going to be a messy, closed-out mess. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

After that, it drops back down to 3ft and below for the rest of the window. There’s no standout, no highlight, nothing. The best we can say is that Monday July 13th morning had glassy conditions, but the swell was too small. If you’re desperate, maybe Thursday July 16th afternoon has glassy conditions with 2ft of 6-second NNW swell, but it’s basically a pond.

This is a tough run for this area. When it’s this consistently poor, it’s more normal for El Brusco to go through blank periods. Forecasts can change, but right now, I’d leave the boards at home and find something else to do.

Rusty.

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