El Comedor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what El Comedor (Costa Rica) is cooking up over the next 16 days.

Right now, we’re in a flat spell. There’s no decent surf on offer at all. Every single reading through the whole run is marked as poor surf conditions, so I won’t sugarcoat it — you’re not gonna find a wave worth paddling for at this reef. The first two weeks are a write-off. The swell barely gets going, and when it does it’s short-period mush, with winds mostly onshore or cross-onshore from the north or north-northeast. The water temp is about 72° – pretty average for this time of year, nothing weird there.

From Sunday 5 July right through to Sunday 19 July, the swell height hangs between 2 ft and 5 ft, but the period is trash – mostly 5 to 8 seconds. That’s windswell, not groundswell. The combined energy is weak to moderate at best, hitting 232 on the 5th but that's still not enough to overcome the onshore blow. Winds are consistently 10 to 25 km/h from the north, often onshore, and that’s just not going to give you clean lines. The reef is exposed to the north, but the optimum direction for this spot is NNW, and we’re getting mostly N and NNE – so direction is off too.

Things do start to beef up around Monday 20 July. By the 19th we see the swell climbing to 7 ft with period 8 seconds and combined energy jumping to 609. That’s moderate to strong energy, but still the wind is onshore from the north or NNE at 15 to 20 km/h. On Monday 20 July, the swell hits 8 ft with 8-second period and energy over 755 – that’s serious grunt. But it’s still onshore, so it’s going to be a messy, blown-out wall. For a reef break, that much size with onshore wind is not user-friendly. It’s expert-only territory at 8 ft, and with poor conditions it’s really a no-go for paddling. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Bottom line: there’s no standout session in this whole 16-day window. The only thing worth noting is the late period around 20 July has size but the wind kills it. If you’re in the area, maybe keep an eye on the longer-range forecast, but right now I’d say leave the board at home.

Rusty.

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