El Palito Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this outlook for El Palito is a tough one. We’re looking at a 16-day window that’s got a whole lot of nothing on offer. The swell is flat, weak, and the conditions are just not cooperating for a proper paddle session. If you’re a beginner, there’s a tiny window early on, but for anyone else, it’s a waiting game.

The first bit of surf we see is on Wednesday morning, July 22nd. El Palito is a beach and breakwater setup, fairly exposed to the NNE swell. We’ve got a tiny 2ft NE swell, but it’s short-period at 6 seconds, so it’s weak and crumbly with only 33 units of combined energy. The wind is onshore from the N at 6 mph, making it messy. Not a day to get excited about.

By Wednesday afternoon, the swell bumps up slightly to 3ft, but the wind swings cross-onshore from the ENE at 9 mph, and the energy is still weak at 43. The call is “poor surf conditions,” and that’s the truth.

Thursday morning, July 23rd, the swell flatlines completely – zero surf. The wind is light and glassy from the NNW at 3 mph, but with no waves, it’s just a pretty lake. Thursday afternoon, same story – no swell, even though the wind goes cross-offshore. It’s a clean, flat ocean.

Friday, July 24th, through Sunday, July 27th, we see a pattern: a few tiny pulses of 2ft to 3ft NE swell, but the period is a miserable 6 seconds, and the energy is weak (23 to 53). The wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, making it choppy. The best of this bad bunch might be Monday morning, July 27th, when the wind goes glassy from the NW at 3 mph, but the swell is only 2ft and 6 seconds. It’s clean, but it’s tiny and weak.

From Monday afternoon, July 27th, right through to the end of the forecast on Thursday, August 6th, the swell is completely absent. Day after day of zero surf. The wind is a mix of onshore and cross-onshore, with a few glassy moments in the morning, but with no waves, it’s irrelevant. This is a long, dry spell.

Honestly, there’s no standout here. The best on offer is the tiny, weak, glassy window on Monday morning, July 27th, but even that is a stretch. For a beginner, the 2ft swell on Wednesday morning, July 22nd, is the only thing that’s rideable, but it’s onshore and messy. The water temp is about average for the time of year, so no surprises there.

For the rest of us, the setup with the significant swell and poor quality, combined with the onshore wind, makes this beach and breakwater setup look more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It’s a blank run, and for this area, that’s not unusual. Keep an eye on the charts, but for now, take a break.

Rusty.

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