Jaco Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Alright, let’s get into it. We’ve got a solid run of surf for Jaco Beach over the next couple of weeks. It kicks off this Sunday, the 16th of August, with a nice south-west groundswell running at 4 ft and a period of 15 seconds. The water’s sitting at 87°F and that’s a good 4°F warmer than usual for this time of year – the ocean’s got a real tropical feel to it. The energy’s moderate (652) and first thing in the morning, with a glassy WNW breeze at 3 mph, it’s looking very clean. This is the standout window. Sure, the crowd factor is listed as “sometimes”, so you might have a few out, but with that long-period SW groundswell and clean conditions, the morning session on Sunday is the pick of the bunch. That long period does mean the sets will be a bit spread out, so be patient.

Sunday afternoon gets a bit messy with a cross-on breeze and a chance of a storm, so get your paddle in early.

Monday the 17th, the swell stays at 3 ft from the SW, period 14 seconds. Morning glass-off again with a dead calm – that’s another very good session, though a touch smaller than Sunday.

Tuesday morning the 18th has smaller 2 ft SW swell but clean again with a glassy NNE breeze at 3 mph. Good for a longboard.

Wednesday the 19th to Friday the 21st we see waist-to-chest high sets. The 21st (Friday) brings the swell back up to 4 ft from the SSW with an 11-second period. Mornings are glassy, afternoons have light glassy wind too. Solid, fun surfing.

From the 22nd into the 23rd, the swell drops a bit, but Sunday the 23rd morning has an interesting little spike: only 1 ft but with a very long 19-second period from the SW, energy moderate (364). That’s a super clean, glassy morning. The waves will be small but lined up – perfect for a log.

Then we hit a quiet stretch from the 24th through the 27th. The swell gets small, periods are long but the height is down around 1 ft to 2 ft. It’s not a total flat spell, but it’s marginal. The mornings are glassy, so if you’re desperate, you can get wet, but it’s ankle to knee high.

Things start to build back Saturday the 29th morning and look good again for the 30th and 31st. The 29th morning has 3 ft SW swell, 15 seconds, glassy – back to clean conditions. The 30th is similar, and the 31st morning is glassy again with 2 ft. That last weekend of August into September looks like a return to form.

So the window: this Sunday morning (16th) is the absolute best for quality. Monday morning (17th) is a close second. After a quiet few days in the middle of the week, the last weekend of the month shapes up well too.

Keep your eyes on the horizon.

Rusty.

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