La Barra Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you about the surf at La Barra for the next couple of weeks. To be honest, it’s a bit of a tough stretch ahead. There are no good surf options in the entire 16-day window at this beach-and-reef setup. Everything that’s coming through is plagued by cross-onshore wind, which is going to keep the surface chopped up and messy. That constant north-northeast breeze just won’t let the waves clean up. The swell is weak to moderate throughout, but it’s all short-period stuff, mostly around 5 to 9 seconds, so it lacks real punch. The combined wave energy starts off low, hitting around 202 (moderate energy) on July 5th but quickly drops into the double digits for a few days, making it feel weak. There’s a gap of several days here where there’s just nothing worth paddling out for.

The water temps are sitting around 72°F on July 5th, which is bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Now, even as we push into the second week, it doesn’t get much better. The swell does start to build a bit around July 18th and 20th, with heights reaching 6 ft to 8 ft on July 19th and 20th, and the combined energy ramps up to a strong 755 to 796 in brackets. That sounds exciting, but hold your horses—the wind stays cross-onshore from the north at 12 to 16 mph, so it’s going to be choppy and lumpy. That size is also getting up there, over 5 ft, so beginners should stay out of it, and by the 20th it’s pushing towards expert territory. The period on those bigger days is still only 8 seconds, so it’s not a proper groundswell, just a messy windswell. Honestly, with that constant wind and the beach-and-reef setup here, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. There’s just no window of clean, glassy conditions to get excited about. Forecasts can always change, though, so keep an eye on it, but as it stands, it’s a blank run for the surfers at La Barra.

Rusty.

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