El Camotal Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let’s talk about what we’ve got on the cards for El Camotal.

To be honest, straight up, this stretch of the forecast looks pretty bleak for a paddle. The whole sixteen-day run is one long, drawn-out gap of mediocre to poor conditions. There’s no real standout session to get excited about. The wind is almost always coming from the south or southwest, which puts it right in the cross-on or cross-onshore zone, and that just chops everything up. The swell is small to tiny for the most part, and when there is a little pulse of energy, the wind kills it.

Let’s break it down. Right from this Sunday, August 16th, we see a 4 ft SW swell with a period of 13 seconds, which gives the water a moderate kick of energy (628), but the wind is a 9 mph cross-shore from the south. The water temp is a toasty 70°F, which is a whopping 6°F warmer than average for this time of year – that’s very unusual, so you won’t need a thick suit. But that Sunday morning is only rated as marginal, and by the afternoon it’s a total write-off. After that, it’s just one poor forecast after another.

The swell hangs in the 3 ft to 4 ft range for a few days early on, but that’s all SW windswell with moderate energy (around 500-700), and the wind just won’t cooperate. Monday the 17th through Wednesday the 20th of August are all “poor” with onshore to cross-onshore winds. There’s a tiny window on Saturday morning, August 22nd, where the wind actually goes light and offshore from the southwest for a moment, and the wave energy is weak (205), but the swell height is only 1 ft with a 19-second period. That’s a super long period, which at a beach break like El Camotal means it’ll likely break too straight and fat – more of a glide than a wave. Not enough to drag you out of bed.

From the 23rd right through to the end of the month and into September, we are looking at tiny swell, often under 3 ft, with weak to moderate energy levels (mostly between 70 and 500). The wind stays stubborn in the south, keeping the surface messy. The only glimmer is Thursday the 27th when a 2 ft, 18-second SW groundswell shows up under light winds, but it’s still cross-onshore, so it’s marginal at best, and the energy is moderate (269). Then on Friday the 28th morning we get 4 ft of SW swell with a 15-second period and light offshore wind, giving us a moderate energy (549), but the rating is only marginal due to tide and shape issues. That’s your best bet in the whole 16 days, and it’s still not breaking any records.

If you’re a kiter or a windsurfer, the consistent cross-onshore winds and the chest-high waves on some days might be interesting, but for a surfer looking for clean, lined-up waves, this is a dry spell. El Camotal is a consistent break, so it tends not to stay this poor for long, but for now, leave your board in the car and wait for the next system.

Rusty.

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