El Caño de la Culata Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty, and I've got to level with you—this is one of those rare stretches where the ocean just isn't playing ball. We're looking at a full 16-day window here, from the 12th of August right through to the 27th, and honestly, there's not a single session worth paddling out for. The forecasts are all marked as "poor surf conditions" with a score of zero, so don't expect any hidden gems.

The first spot on the list is El Caño de la Culata. It's a sheltered beginner spot, fairly consistent, but it's protected from the southern swell that's the only direction it likes. The water temperature is sitting at 71°F, which is bang on average for this time of year—nothing unusual there. But the issue is that for the entire period, the swell energy is either zero or just a few single-digit numbers, like the weak 2 or 3 we see on a few days. The biggest swell we see is a tiny 2 ft from the WSW on the 15th, but with a period of only 3 seconds, that's just wind chop, not a real wave. And the wind is often onshore, cross-on, or just plain messy, so it's not even clean.

We go through the whole 16 days with nothing. There's a brief moment on the 15th of August afternoon where we get that 2 ft of swell, but it's paired with a 30 km/h onshore SW wind, so it's blown out. The 23rd of August has a 2 ft S swell with a 4-second period, but again, it's not worth the effort. The energy values are all in the single digits, like 6, 14, or 7, which is about as weak as it gets. For a sheltered spot like this, when the swell is this small and the wind is wrong, it's just flat.

Given there's no real paddle surfing on offer, and with the onshore winds and tiny, weak swell, this setup honestly looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It's a blank run, and for this area, that's not too unusual—forecasts can change, but this stretch is a write-off. Stay patient, and hopefully the next window brings something better.

Rusty

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