El Comedor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve gotta be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are shaping up as a real struggle for El Comedor. This is a top-notch reef break that needs that clean north-northwest groundswell to really fire, and for the most part, what’s coming in is short-period, onshore wind slop. It’s going to be a long, frustrating wait for something worthwhile.

Right now, through Wednesday the 8th and all the way into the first week, it’s a write-off. The swell is tiny – around 1.3 ft to 3.9 ft – and coming from the north or north-northeast with a period of just 4 to 7 seconds. That’s windswell, not groundswell, and it’s arriving with a persistent onshore wind from the north or north-northeast, gusting 9 to 12 mph. The combined wave energy is weak, sitting below 100 for most of it. Conditions are labelled “poor” across the board. On top of that, the wind is onshore, making it choppy and messy.

We get a slight bump around Saturday the 11th where the period jumps to 12 seconds on a tiny 0.7 ft swell from the northwest, but with only 37 energy units it’s barely a ripple. The water temp is about average for the time of year, so nothing weird going on there. But honestly, there’s nothing for a surfer to get excited about. That blank run of truly bad surf stretches from the start of the forecast period all the way through to the end of that first week.

Into the second week, things get a bit more interesting, but it’s still not easy. From around Thursday the 16th, the north-northeast swell picks up in size, from 4.3 ft up to 6.9 ft by Saturday the 18th. The period is still short, around 6-7 seconds, so the power is lacking. By Sunday the 19th, we see the combined energy climb into the 500s (578) with 6.9 ft of north-northeast swell, but the wind is cross-onshore from the north-northeast at 6 mph. The rating barely edges up to a 1 out of 10, which is described as marginal. That’s a long-range call, so it’s a bit of a maybe.

But the standout event – and I mean the only one worth marking on your calendar – is way out on Thursday the 23rd of July. The forecast shows a solid 9.8 ft north-northeast swell with a period of 9 seconds. The combined wave energy is a massive 1223, which is strong. The wind is onshore from the north-northeast at 12 mph, but the guidance notes say wind and tide are favourable. The rating hits the maximum, scoring 11 out of 10 for that break. That’s huge. Late July looks like the window. This is an expert-only wave, because anything over 8.2 ft is too big for beginners. The north-northeast swell direction is not the ideal north-northwest, but at that size and with that energy, it could still be a heavy, challenging wave on the reef. Keep an eye on it, but that one’s still a long way off.

For now, any moderate energy (over 100) happens with short, weak windswell and onshore breeze, so the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. Just be patient. The good stuff is a long way out.

Read more