El Lloret Surf Forecast and Surf Report

First up, the outlook for El Lloret (Costa Brava) is a bit of a waiting game, to be honest. The next two weeks are not shaping up to be classic, with the wind state persistently messy and the surf quality coming in poor across the board. There’s a long stretch of nothing special on the cards, and I’m not seeing a single standout session that’ll have you paddling out with a grin from ear to ear. It’s one of those periods where the ocean looks tempting but the conditions just won’t line up for a proper surf.

Looking at the start, Tuesday the 18th has a small 3ft northwest swell with a 9-second period, but it’s blown out with a light cross-onshore breeze. The wave energy is weak, sitting at 166, and it’s just not doing anything for the reef. Wednesday and Thursday stay poor, with bumpy conditions, and the swell drops a little in period to 8 seconds, keeping the energy moderate but unexciting. By Friday the 21st, we see a slight push to 5ft, but the north wind’s howling straight onshore, and it’s still considered poor. Saturday the 22nd bumps up a touch more, getting to 5ft, but it’s still onshore and junky—definitely not one for the log.

We go through the weekend and into the start of the new week with cross-onshore winds and waves in the 3ft to 4ft range, just messy and unorganized. The real issue is the consistency: it’s all over the place, and when it’s not, the wind is chopping it up. Tuesday the 25th does push the swell a bit harder, up to 6ft, with a moderate energy at 327, but again, it’s onshore and not offering any clean faces. The rest of the week stays in that 5ft to 6ft range, but the period is short and the wind is cross-onshore, so it’s a constant battle.

Looking further out, the last week of August into the first of September shows the swell building a little more. Friday the 28th sees 7ft to 7ft waves with energy climbing into the 451–553 range, but the wind is still blowing straight onshore. This is getting into the size where it’s more for the experienced crew, and even then, the onshore wind will make it a messy, bumpy affair. By Saturday the 29th it eases slightly to 6ft, but again, it’s onshore. The last days of the month and into September 1st and 2nd drop back to 4ft to 5ft, with the same onshore or cross-onshore pattern. It just never cleans up.

In short, there’s no period I’d genuinely recommend charging out for. The swell direction is from the north, which aligns with the optimum for El Lloret, but the wind is never in the right place. The water temp anomaly is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there. The setup is a reef, and it’s fairly exposed, but without clean conditions, it’s not going to show its true colors. Keep an eye on it, but don’t hold your breath for a proper session over the next couple of weeks. Forecasts can change, so I’ll be watching, but as it stands, it’s a quiet spell.

Rusty

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