Surf Forecasts:
El Estero surf forecast from 8 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Wednesday 8 Jul, 12PM (local time) - 4ft (1.2m), 16s period, SW swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 8 Jul, 6AM (local time) - 4.5ft (1.3m), 16s period, SSW swell with 875 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Wednesday 8 Jul, 12PM (local time) - 4ft (1.2m), 16s 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 Wednesday (Jul 08) at 12PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.2m and 16s 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 1.3m 16s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Jul 08) at 6AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.9m 7s period and expected on Sunday (Jul 12) at 12AM.
| Wave Type | Time (CST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 12PM (Wed 8th Jul) | 4ft (1.2m) 16s |
| Best Surf | 12PM (Wed 8th Jul) | 4ft (1.2m) 16s |
| Most Powerful | 6AM (Wed 8th Jul) | 4.5ft (1.3m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for El Estero over the next 16 days.
Right, gather 'round. Rusty here, with the surf check for our local bit of coast. A mixed bag of a fortnight, to be honest, with some real quiet spells, but a few windows where it'll be worth paddling out.
We're looking at El Estero first up. A solid run of days, but nothing huge. The water temp is feeling about average for this time of year, so a normal spring suit job.
The best of the bunch by a long shot is Wednesday afternoon, July 8th. The WSW wind drops right out, leaving us with glassy conditions and a clean 4ft swell rolling in from the SW, period a very long 16 seconds (864 moderate combined energy). The river mouth setup will be handling that groundswell well. This is the standout session, no question. Crowds are likely, but for that quality, you'll be happy to share.
Thursday morning, July 9th is still clean and cross-off with a 4ft SW swell, though the ENE breeze picks up a bit. The energy drops to 544, but it's still surfable. The afternoons on the 9th and 10th see smaller 3-3ft SW swell with light winds, but nothing to get overly excited about.
Saturday afternoon, July 11th and Sunday morning, July 12th both serve up glassy conditions again on small 3ft SSW to SW swells, with the Sunday having that long 14-second period and 472 energy. Nice, clean, but small.
Things go quiet. From Monday, July 13th through to Wednesday, July 15th morning, the swell drops to 2-2ft with moderate cross-off breezes. After that, on Tuesday afternoon, July 14th, we get a flash of glass and a 2ft SSW swell that bumps the energy up to 473, making for a sneaky good, clean little session.
Thursday afternoon, July 16th sees a pulse of 3ft SSW swell, but with a cross-onshore breeze, so it'll be a bit of a mess.
The whole second week looks pretty slim, but a couple of afternoons stand out. Sunday afternoon, July 19th has a moderate offshore breeze and clean 2ft SW swell with a very long 18-second period. The energy is 348, so while it's small, the quality might be there for a longboard. Monday afternoon, July 20th is onshore, so skip it. Tuesday morning, July 21st looks alright with a light breeze and clean 2ft SW swell at 15 seconds.
All in all, we've got a few good windows in the first week, especially that Wednesday afternoon. The second week is a waiting game. Forecasts change, so keep an eye on it.
Rusty, signing out.
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 9mm), mostly falling on Fri afternoon. Warm (max 32°C on Thu afternoon, min 26°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryHeavy rain (total 22mm), heaviest during Fri night. Warm (max 31°C on Mon morning, min 25°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday 8 | Thursday 9 | Friday 10 | Saturday 11 | Sunday 12 | Monday 13 | Tue 14 | |||||||||||||||
Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 17 | SSW 16 | SW 16 | SSW 16 | SW 15 | SSW 16 | SW 15 | SW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SSW 14 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 1048 | 864 | 748 | 657 | 544 | 419 | 314 | 318 | 279 | 403 | 372 | 362 | 323 | 297 | 264 | 130 | 200 | 189 | 88 | 140 | 207 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | cross-off | glassy | off | cross-off | cross-off | off | cross-off | cross | off | off | glassy | off | glassy | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | glassy |
High Tide | 8:14AM2.25m | 8:38PM1.92m | 9:08AM2.27m | 9:40PM1.90m | 10:09AM2.30m | 10:48PM1.92m | 11:14AM2.35m | 11:56PM2.00m | 12:19PM2.43m | 1:00AM2.13m | 1:20PM2.52m | 2:00AM2.27m | 2:18PM2.59m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 1:48AM0.53m | 2:39PM0.58m | 2:40AM0.56m | 3:39PM0.54m | 3:41AM0.56m | 4:44PM0.48m | 4:47AM0.53m | 5:49PM0.38m | 5:55AM0.46m | 6:51PM0.26m | 7:01AM0.37m | 7:48PM0.13m | 8:02AM0.27m | ||||||||
 |  |  | |  | |  | | |  |  | |  |  | |  | | | | | | |
 | — | 5:26 | — | — | 5:26 | — | — | 5:26 | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | 5:28 | — | — | 5:28 | — |
 | — | — | 6:08 | — | — | 6:08 | — | — | 6:08 | — | — | 6:08 | — | — | 6:08 | — | — | 6:08 | — | — | 6:08 |
mm | — | — | 1 | — | — | 3 | — | — | 5 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 4 |
Temp °C | 28 | 31 | 31 | 28 | 31 | 32 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 31 | 31 | 27 | 31 | 29 |
Feels °C | 28 | 33 | 36 | 31 | 33 | 35 | 29 | 32 | 34 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 27 | 35 | 33 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 17 | SSW 16 | SW 16 | SSW 16 | SW 15 | SSW 16 | SW 15 | SW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 14 | SW 14 | S 7 | S 15 | SSW 14 |
| kJ | 1048 | 864 | 748 | 657 | 544 | 419 | 314 | 318 | 279 | 403 | 372 | 362 | 323 | 297 | 264 | 130 | 200 | 189 | 32 | 155 | 207 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 12 | S 12 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 | S 8 | S 8 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | SSW 6 | SSW 6 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | S 15 | SW 13 | SSW 13 |
| kJ | 136 | 132 | 110 | 110 | 87 | 85 | 83 | 99 | 86 | 74 | 70 | 62 | 70 | 55 | 43 | 35 | 27 | 24 | 159 | 140 | 114 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | W 15 | — | SSW 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 20 | SSW 18 | N 4 | S 16 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | S 16 | S 16 | SW 13 | S 7 | SW 18 |
| kJ | — | — | — | 4 | — | 47 | 47 | 37 | 108 | 6 | 134 | 86 | 71 | 120 | 42 | 63 | 134 | 132 | 88 | 15 | 152 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | NNE 5 | N 5 | N 5 | N 5 | NNE 3 | — | NNE 4 | NNE 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NNE 4 | NE 4 | NNE 5 | N 6 | N 5 | — |
| kJ | 22 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 3 | — | 6 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | 22 | 7 | 29 | 16 | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 29 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 41 | 29 | 13 | 9 | 0 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Guanacaste | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in Costa Rica | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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