El Corniche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, it’s Rusty here and I gotta be straight with you – this 16-day stretch out at El Corniche is a tough one. We’re looking at a real flat spell to kick things off, with hardly any surf to get excited about for the first week or so. The combined swell energy is weak, often sitting below 100, and most days the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, making a mess of things. The swell that does show is short-period, usually 7 seconds or less, which means weak, bumpy waves.

The first real glimmer of hope doesn’t show up until the morning of Saturday, the 29th of August. That morning the swell picks up a touch to 3 ft from the NNW with a 7-second period, and combined energy hits 150 (moderate energy). The wind is light offshore from the NNW at 6 mph, which at least keeps the surface clean. It’s still marginal, and the wave comment says "marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions," so don’t get your hopes up for anything special.

But if there’s one standout in this whole period, it’s the morning of Tuesday, the 18th of August. We get a little bump of 4 to 4 ft from the NNW, with the morning swell at 4 ft, 7-second period, and 138 combined energy. The wind is glassy – NNE at 3 mph – which is a major positive. That’s the cleanest window you’ll see. The surf is surfable, but the quality is said to be "very ordinary conditions," so it’s not going to be epic, just the best of a bad bunch. For experienced surfers, it’s worth a look. Beginners might find the small size okay, but the short period means it’ll be weak.

After that Tuesday morning, it goes downhill fast. Wednesday the 19th onward is tiny and windy, with swell dropping to 1 ft or less. There’s a long gap of almost no usable surf from that Wednesday right through to the 28th of August. The afternoon of the 29th and the 30th see a slight increase to 3 ft, but the wind goes onshore or cross-onshore again, chopping it up.

Because the swell is so small and short-period for most of the run, and the wind is often onshore, this setup honestly looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on most days. For a wave that rarely breaks anyway, this 16-day forecast is a write-off for all but that one Tuesday morning and maybe a peek on the 29th. Keep an eye on the forecasts though – it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

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