El Conquistador Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you – the next couple of weeks are not going to have you scrambling for your wettie. It's a slow start, a bit of a tease in the middle, and then a messy finish. We're looking at a long stretch of small, weak surf before things even get close to interesting.

Right now, through the 11th of August, it's flat out poor. We're talking waves around 0.7ft. Just nothing doing. The energy is real weak, with combined energy readings in the low teens to low 30s. It's glassy, which is nice, but with no swell, glassy just means flat.

The first real sign of life shows up on Wednesday the 12th. We start to see a pulse of short-period NW windswell, but it's tiny. The morning of the 12th has 1ft on the face with energy in the 40s. It's surfable, but only just, and it's what I'd call pretty ordinary. The swell slowly builds a little through the 13th and 14th, but it's still not breaking the 2ft mark. The energy is still weak, under 100.

Then things get a little more interesting. From the 15th of August, the period starts to climb. We're seeing groundswell energy out of the SSW, with periods hitting 16 to 18 seconds by the weekend. It's still small, but the quality of the swell is better. On Sunday the 16th, the afternoon picks up to 2ft with a period of 16 seconds, and the energy jumps to 207 – that's a moderate reading. It's still not big, but it's the best we've seen. The winds are glassy or light, so it should be clean.

Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th are the pick of the bunch. We get 2ft SSW groundswell with a 15-second period, and the energy is in the 200s. The mornings are looking glassy and clean. The water's at 75°, which is about normal for this time of year, so no surprises there. This is the window where you want to be out at El Conquistador. It's a beach and reef setup, so this long-period swell could be a bit straight at the beach, but the reef might offer up some better shape. The direction is SSW, which matches what this spot likes.

After that, the 19th of August onwards, the wind turns against us. We get a cross-onshore flow picking up, and the swell starts to push a bit bigger but messier. The energy climbs into the 400s and 500s, which tells you there's plenty of power, but the wind is going to wreck it. The 20th sees 3ft of SSW swell but with a 25 km/h cross-onshore, it's going to be choppy and blown out. Definitely not one for the beginners. The 21st and 22nd are much the same, with moderate cross-onshore winds. Honestly, that stretch looks more like a kite-surfing forecast than a paddle-surfing one.

The run ends on the 23rd with a drop back to 2ft and light, offshore winds. It's clean but small, and the energy fades back below 110. So, if you're keen, keep your eyes on the 16th through the 18th of August. That's your window. It's not going to be huge, but it's clean and has some push to it. Everything else is either too small or too windy.

Rusty, signing off.

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