Surf Forecasts:
El Estero surf forecast from 2 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 4 Sep, 12AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 18s period, SW swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Saturday 5 Sep, 9AM (local time) - 6ft (1.8m), 16s period, SW swell with 1,552 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 1 Sep, 9PM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 12s period with SW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for El Estero this week:
The surf forecast for El Estero over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Sep 01) at 9PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.9m and 12s period. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at El Estero in the next 16 days are 1.8m 16s and forecast to arrive on Saturday (Sep 05) at 9AM. Winds are predicted to be offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.8m 6s period and expected on Tuesday (Sep 01) at 9PM.
| Wave Type | Time (CST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 9PM (Tue 1st Sep) | 3ft (0.9m) 12s |
| Best Surf | 12AM (Fri 4th Sep) | 4.5ft (1.3m) 18s |
| Most Powerful | 9AM (Sat 5th Sep) | 6ft (1.8m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for El Estero over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, grab your board, let’s see what we’ve got. This is a long-range look at the only game in town – El Estero. It's a river mouth setup that's open to the west-northwest swell window, so it’s all about that southwest groundswell we've got coming.
Right now, the surf is quiet. The first real chance to get wet that’s worth your time kicks off on Wednesday morning, September 2nd. We’ve got a clean 2 ft SW groundswell pushing through with a light offshore breeze. That’s a green light. The energy is moderate and the water’s a touch warmer than usual for this time of year.
The real standout window, the one to circle on the calendar, lands on Friday, September 4th through Saturday, September 5th. Friday morning, that SW swell builds to a solid 5 ft with a nice 17-second period. That’s proper groundswell with strong energy. Morning winds are light cross-offshore making for clean conditions. It’s a bit much for beginners, but excellent for the crew that knows what they're doing. Saturday morning is even better – swell hits 6 ft from the same direction, period at 16 seconds, and very strong energy. The wind goes glassy off the land. This is the pick of the whole 16-day run.
There’s a solid week of surfable mornings after that, right through to Thursday, September 10th, with clean 4 ft to 4 ft swells and offshore or glassy winds each morning. Consistency is good here. The afternoons get wrecked by thermal winds and the chance of thunderstorms, so make it a dawn patrol deal.
As we roll into the second week, the swell drops but doesn’t vanish. Mornings from September 12th onward offer smaller, cleaner waves in the 2 ft to 3 ft range with some glassy sessions, especially on Monday morning, September 14th, with a 2 ft, 19-second period groundswell and dead calm winds – perfect for a longboard or a quiet session on the bank.
It’s not a giant swell window, but for the river mouth, the quality and consistency are there. Just keep an eye on the afternoons – they turn ugly. Stick to the mornings and you’ll be in the right spot.
- Rusty
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 8mm), mostly falling on Thu afternoon. Warm (max 31°C on Thu morning, min 25°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryHeavy rain (total 48mm), heaviest during Sat afternoon. Warm (max 30°C on Mon morning, min 25°C on Sat afternoon). Wind will be generally light. | |||||||||||||||||||
Tue 1 | Wednesday 2 | Thursday 3 | Friday 4 | Saturday 5 | Sunday 6 | Monday 7 | ||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 18 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 19 | SW 18 | SW 17 | SW 17 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 297 | 220 | 300 | 326 | 371 | 296 | 577 | 1099 | 1297 | 1519 | 1314 | 1552 | 1164 | 966 | 833 | 676 | 658 | 507 | 363 | 342 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | glassy | cross-off | cross-on | glassy | off | cross-on | off | cross-off | cross-on | off | off | cross-on | glassy | cross-off | cross-on | off | cross-off | cross-on | glassy |
High Tide | 5:25PM2.27m | 5:45AM2.50m | 6:08PM2.19m | 6:29AM2.43m | 6:56PM2.09m | 7:20AM2.33m | 7:53PM1.99m | 8:20AM2.23m | 9:01PM1.92m | 9:31AM2.16m | 10:19PM1.93m | 10:48AM2.16m | 11:35PM2.03m | |||||||
Low Tide | 11:28PM0.28m | 12:04PM0.28m | 00:10AM0.34m | 12:52PM0.35m | 00:59AM0.43m | 1:47PM0.44m | 1:56AM0.53m | 2:52PM0.51m | 3:07AM0.61m | 4:06PM0.53m | 4:26AM0.63m | 5:19PM0.48m | ||||||||
 |  |  | |  | | | | | |  |  | | | | | | | | | |
 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — |
 | 5:52 | — | — | 5:52 | — | — | 5:51 | — | — | 5:51 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:49 | — | — | 5:49 | — |
mm | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 1 | 27 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
Temp °C | 28 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 31 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 30 | 28 | 28 |
Feels °C | 31 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 34 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 30 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 33 | 30 | 32 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 19 | SW 18 | SW 17 | SW 17 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 |
| kJ | 297 | 220 | 238 | 238 | 371 | 291 | 577 | 1099 | 1297 | 1519 | 1314 | 1552 | 1164 | 966 | 833 | 676 | 658 | 507 | 363 | 342 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 6 | S 6 | SW 18 | SW 16 | SSW 12 | SW 12 | SSW 12 | SSW 11 | SSW 11 | SSW 11 | S 11 | WNW 9 | S 7 | S 10 | S 6 | S 6 | S 7 | S 6 | S 6 | WNW 11 |
| kJ | 41 | 49 | 300 | 326 | 180 | 144 | 174 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 88 | 26 | 32 | 50 | 29 | 29 | 45 | 40 | 29 | 93 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 18 | SW 18 | S 6 | SSW 6 | S 6 | SW 19 | SW 15 | WNW 9 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | WNW 9 | S 11 | WNW 9 | WNW 8 | WNW 8 | NW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | WNW 11 | S 6 |
| kJ | 112 | 155 | 25 | 27 | 18 | 296 | 171 | 26 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 10 | 30 | 13 | 14 | 57 | 64 | 90 | 100 | 18 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 192 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 192 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Guanacaste | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in Costa Rica | ||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | ||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our El Estero surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the El Estero Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for El Estero provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at El Estero can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our El Estero surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (El Estero) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for El Estero may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
El Estero is 47 km (29 miles) from Nicoya. If you plan a holiday in Guanacaste, look for hotels and other accommodation in Nicoya. Nicoya has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest