El Palito Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Well, grab a seat, ‘cause I gotta be straight with you. It’s gonna be a tough stretch for paddle surfers out at El Palito. I’ve been staring at the charts, and for a good long while, we just don’t have any real swell on the menu. It’s a bummer, but it is what it is.

The next few days are looking pretty flat, with the wind messing things up whenever a ripple shows. This is one of those quiet spells where it pays to just leave the board in the car. We’re talking a solid stretch of days with basically nothing rideable.

Looking ahead, the first time we see anything that even resembles a wave is on Thursday, the 10th of September. But it’s tiny – about 3ft from the NE with a short period swell. The wind is gonna be light onshore in the morning, which is not ideal, but with that size, it’s not exactly going to be a day to get excited about. It’s just not worth the trip for the quality that’s on offer. The energy behind it is weak too, with a combined energy value of just 66.

After that, it’s back to the flat spell. There’s a tiny pulse of 0.3ft on the 12th, but that’s just a tease. We go through a proper dry spell until Tuesday the 15th, when we see another 0.3ft pulse, but it’s a long-period swell (12 seconds) that will just pass through and break straight with nothing behind it. The energy is basically non-existent, sitting at just a value of 3. Not even worth mentioning again.

Finally, on Wednesday the 16th of September, the prospect starts to look a *little* brighter. It’s still small, with a 3ft NE swell early. But the key is the wind. It’s forecast to be glassy, calm, at 0 mph. That means the surface will be clean. For a break that’s as inconsistent and small as this, a glassy morning on the tiniest of swells is about the only thing we have to work with. The swell energy is starting to build a little, at a value of 53, but it’s still a long way off from being proper.

Then the wind switches to a cross-shore in the afternoon and chops things up. The long-range forecast after that just doesn’t have anything substantial. The swell period gets longer (14 seconds), but the size stays at a pathetic 0.3ft. With the combined energy being as weak as it is (values of 2 to 4), there’s nothing to get amped about. It looks like the setup is more interesting for a kite surfer than for someone on a paddleboard.

I know it’s not the news you want, but there aren't any good surf options in this window. The one bright spot is that El Palito is listed as fairly consistent, so it tends not to stay this poor for long. Forecasts can and do change, so keep an eye out, but for now, I’d say dust off the fishing rod instead of the wettie.

This is Rusty, signing off.

Read more