Jameos del Agua Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the next 16 days. Straight up, I gotta be honest with you – this is a tough run. The whole window is a bit of a grind, with persistent cross-shore winds and lumpy, chop conditions that are gonna make it hard to find a clean wave. There’s no standout period where everything lines up perfectly. We’ve got a solid run of swell, but the wind is the enemy here.

We start off on Friday the 17th of July, and it’s a bit of a bummer. The swell is a modest 6 ft from the NNE with a short period of 7 seconds, and we’re dealing with a fresh 19 mph cross-shore wind. The combined wave energy is moderate (283), but the surface is just lumpy cross-chop. It’s poor, and that’s the story right through the weekend. Saturday and Sunday see the swell bump up a bit, reaching 6 ft on Sunday with the combined energy climbing to 382, but that wind is still on it, 19 to 22 mph and cross-shore. It’s a mess.

Monday the 20th through to Thursday the 24th, the swell holds steady between 7 ft and 8 ft, still from the NNE and short period. The wind keeps pumping, 19 to 25 mph, and the water gets messy with a strong cross-chop. The combined energy gets into the moderate range, hitting 642 on Monday morning, but with that wind, the quality is shot. Then we hit the following weekend, the 26th and 27th of July, and the swell really kicks up. We’re seeing 8 ft to 10 ft waves from the NNE, and the combined energy jumps into the strong range, hitting 1043 on Sunday the 26th and 1052 on Monday the 27th. That’s big, powerful swell, but the wind is still a strong breeze, 25 to 28 mph, and it’s cross-shore or cross-onshore, making it a messy, dangerous beast. That size is for experts only, and even then, the conditions are grotty.

Moving into the last few days of July and the first of August, the swell backs off a touch, settling around 7 ft to 8 ft, but the period stretches out to 9 or even 10 seconds. That’s a better sign for energy, but the wind is still not our friend. We get a bit of a reprieve on the 29th of July, Wednesday morning, with the wind dropping to a moderate 16 mph cross-shore. The combined energy is still strong (1145), and the swell is 8 ft at 10 seconds. The afternoon of the 29th even gets a "marginal" call, which is the best we see in the whole 16 days. But it’s still cross-shore chop, and that’s the only glimmer. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, no real anomaly to speak of.

So, the harsh truth is, there’s no real standout. The only break we’ve got to look at is Jameos del Agua, a reef setup. The optimum swell direction is from the north, and we’re getting a lot of NNE swell, which is close but not ideal. The crowds are "often" here, but with conditions this poor, that’s not gonna be a problem. Given the persistent cross-shore wind and chunk, this setup is looking more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It’s a long, frustrating stretch. It tends not to stay this poor for long, but this run is a solid test of patience.

Rusty.

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