El Corniche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Hey folks, Rusty here. We gotta have a real talk about the surf outlook for El Corniche. The next 16 days? Honestly, it’s a tough watch. The wind is your enemy for almost the entire run, hammering the place from the Northwest, which is straight onshore for most of the swell that’s coming in from the NNW and NW. The water is sitting at a very warm 82° – that’s over two degrees warmer than usual, so it’s genuinely muggy out there.

Looking right at the start, the first few days are a write-off. Monday the 13th has a 4 ft swell from the NNW but with a 12 mph onshore wind and a short period of 7 seconds. The combined energy is weak (116), and the word is "poor surf conditions". That pretty much sums up Monday through to Wednesday the 15th. The swell builds a bit, hitting 6 ft from the NW on Wednesday morning with a moderate combined energy (497), but that 12 mph onshore breeze is just gonna chop it to pieces. That 6 ft is getting into the zone where it’s a bit much for beginners, but with the wind, it won’t be fun for anyone.

We finally get a tiny window on Thursday morning the 16th. The wind drops to a glassy 3 mph from the WNW. The swell is 4 ft from the NW with an 8-second period and a combined energy of 160. It’s described as "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions". That’s the best we get for a long while – it’ll be clean, but gutless and lacking any push. Everything else on Thursday and Friday is back to onshore slop.

Then there’s a long, bleak stretch. Friday the 17th all the way through to Thursday the 23rd is just flat or close to it. Swell sizes drop below 3 ft, periods are short, and the winds are either onshore or cross-onshore. On Tuesday the 22nd, there’s literally no swell at all. It’s a solid 6-day gap of nothing worth paddling out for.

There’s another tiny glimmer on Sunday the 19th – another glassy morning with the NW wind dropping right off. Swell is only 3 ft from the NW, period 7 seconds, with a combined energy of just 73. Again, it'll be glassy but weak and ordinary. After that, the flat spell continues.

We start to see a bit of a pulse return around Saturday the 25th. The swell builds to 4 ft from the NNW on the Saturday morning, combined energy hitting a moderate 222. But here’s the kicker – it’s still an onshore wind from the WNW. Then Sunday the 26th of July shows a 6 ft swell from the NNW, combined energy up to 374. The wind is a solid 16 mph from the NW, which is still onshore. At 6 ft with onshore wind, this setup is rough, and honestly, it’s looking more interesting for the kite surfers than paddle surfers. The period is only 8 seconds, so it’s a weak, short-period windswell.

If you’re a glass-half-full type, those two glassy mornings on the 16th and the 19th will give you a clean but very ordinary wave. There's nothing in this entire 16-day window that’s a standout. The wind just won't give us a break.

Rusty.

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