El Camotal Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Well, straight up, the next 16-day outlook for our area isn’t shaping up to be anything special. We’ve got a consistent run of small, messy, cross-onshore swell that’s going to leave the waves pretty average. There’s no real standout session on the horizon, and for long stretches you’ll be better off leaving the board at home. The water temperature is sitting at 69°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – about 4° above average, so you can get away with a thinner suit.

The only break on offer is El Camotal. It’s a beginner-friendly spot, exposed to the swell, but the wind is almost always cross-onshore through the whole period. That kills any chance of decent shape.

Saturday 25th July kicks things off with a small 3 ft SW swell at a very long 18-second period. That long period means the energy is there, but it’s only 3 ft and the cross-onshore breeze makes it choppy. Saturday afternoon the wind picks up a little, and it’s still small. Not worth paddling out.

Sunday 26th July morning has a few things going for it – offshore WSW wind at 5 km/h 3 mph, a clean sky, and a 3 ft SW swell with a 20-second period. That’s the best the whole window gets. That offshore wind will make it clean and glassy for a beginner spot, but the swell’s tiny. Still, if you’re learning and just want to get wet, that’s your window.

After that, the trend is downhill. Monday 27th July through to Wednesday 6th August, the swell bumps up to around 4 ft to 5 ft, but it’s still from the SW and the wind sticks cross-onshore. The period drops to around 12-15 seconds, so the quality is just poor – the energy gets high, but the wind chops everything up. For a beach break setup, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

From Friday 31st July onwards, the swell drops back to 3 ft to 3 ft, and the energy falls away. Still cross-onshore. The water’s still warm, but the surf isn’t there.

There’s a glimmer on Wednesday 5th August morning with a 5 ft SW swell, period 13 seconds, but again, cross-onshore wind, so it’s marginal at best.

From Saturday 8th August right through to the end of the forecast on Sunday 9th August, it flatlines – barely 0.3 ft from the NW with no energy. Nothing happening.

Overall, if you’re a beginner and the early Sunday 26th July morning window works, you could get a clean, small wave. Otherwise, this is a long, dull run, and after a few days, the forecast might change, but for now, it’s pretty bleak.

Rusty.

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