El Corniche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here.

Let’s be straight with you — there’s not a whole lot to get excited about over the next 16 days for El Corniche. The swell is tiny, the wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and the quality is poor. This spot rarely breaks at the best of times, and this forecast is a classic example of a flat, frustrating run.

The water temperature is sitting at 84° — that’s much warmer than normal for this time of year, more than 4° above average. You’ll be sweating in a shorty, if you even bother to paddle out.

From Wednesday 19th August right through to the end of the month, we’re looking at a long stretch of tiny, weak waves. Heights are mostly between 0.7 ft and 3 ft, periods are short — 4 to 7 seconds — and the combined swell energy is in the low double digits, often just 3 to 83 (very weak). The wind is out of the NW, NNW, or NNE, and it’s cross-onshore or directly onshore, so the surface is choppy or bumpy. Not a single session in this period cracks a score above 1 out of 10. It’s grim.

There’s a slight uptick around the morning of Tuesday 1st September, when the swell bumps up to 6 ft from the NW with a period of 8 seconds and combined energy of 408 (moderate). The wind is light onshore, so it’s not clean, but the size is there. That’s the best of the bunch — but it’s still marginal, with a score of only 2 out of 10. It’s too big for beginners, and for experts, the onshore wind will make it a lumpy, messy session. The NW swell direction isn’t ideal for El Corniche, which prefers swell from the north.

After that, it drops back down to small stuff again through the rest of the first week of September. Honestly, if you’re desperate for a paddle, the morning of Tuesday 1st September is your only real option — and even then, keep expectations in the gutter.

No standouts here. Wait for the next system.

Rusty.

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