El Comedor Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve gotta be straight with you – it’s a rough stretch ahead for this one. The whole 16-day window is basically a write-off for decent waves. We’re starting from the 9th of August, and there’s not a single session that’s worth paddling out for.

For the first few days, from Sunday the 9th right through to the end of the first week, we’ve got onshore winds from the N and NNE, blowing at 12 to 16 mph. The swell is small, around 4 ft to 5 ft, with a short, weak period of just 6 to 7 seconds. That’s all wind-slop and bump. The combined wave energy is weak to moderate, sitting around 150 to 250 (moderate energy), but it’s all messy.

On Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th, the swell does push up – we see 6 ft to 7 ft from the NNE, with the period stretching to 8 seconds. The energy gets up to over 500 (moderate energy), but don’t get excited. The wind turns cross-onshore, and it’s still rated as poor surf conditions. At a reef break like El Comedor, with an onshore wind and swell direction coming right out of the north-northeast – that’s basically straight onshore for this spot – it’ll be a choppy, blown-out mess. For an expert-only reef, that’s not a fun paddle out.

Things get a little less windy in the second week, from around Tuesday the 18th, with winds dropping to 6 to 9 mph from the NNW and some glassy periods. But the swell drops right off too, to 3 ft to 4 ft. The energy falls below 200 (weak to moderate energy). The conditions are still marked as poor. There’s a small uptick around the 20th and 21st of August, with the swell getting back to 5 ft from the N, period up to 9 seconds, and clean offshore wind. But it’s still getting a score of zero. Just not working for this break.

Bottom line: there’s nothing to recommend here. El Comedor is a consistent, exposed reef, but the swell direction is wrong and the winds are trash for the whole run. When the swell is bigger, it’s messy; when the wind turns offshore, the swell is too small. A blank run like this is more normal for the area when the trade winds blow strong from the north. Keep an eye on the forecasts – they can change, and it tends not to stay this poor forever.

Rusty

Read more