La Barra Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

The 16-day window starts off with a bit of a struggle. We’ve got a rough patch of poor conditions through the end of August and into the first week of September. The swell is small and the wind is messy, mostly cross-onshore and choppy. It’s not until the morning of Thursday, August 27th, that we see a glimmer of hope, but even that’s short-lived. After that, there’s a long stretch of nearly two weeks where the surf is either flat or blown out.

The standout for this whole outlook is Thursday morning, August 27th at La Barra. This is a point/river break that’s fairly consistent. The water temp is about average for this time of year, nothing wild. We’ve got a 3 ft swell rolling in from the SE, with a period of 13 seconds – that’s a proper groundswell. The combined energy is moderate at 374, and the wind is light and cross-offshore from the WSW at 6 mph. It’s going to be clean. The break is exposed to the south, and the swell direction is right on the money. It’s not huge, but the conditions are good enough to make it the best session in the window. Crowds are possible, so keep an eye out.

After that, things go quiet. The rest of that week and all of the next are a write-off. The swell stays tiny, the wind is either onshore or cross-shore, and the energy is weak. There’s a brief moment on Thursday morning, September 3rd, where we get some offshore wind from the north at 12 mph, with a 2 ft swell from the south, but it’s just ordinary. Not worth getting excited about.

Things start to look a bit more promising toward the second week. On Thursday morning, September 10th, we see a 5 ft groundswell from the SE, with a period of 9 seconds, and light cross-offshore wind from the NE at 6 mph. The combined energy is 401 – moderate. That’s a cleaner setup. Then on Friday morning, September 11th, it builds further: 5 ft from the SE again, period 12 seconds, and the energy jumps to 736. The wind is light cross-offshore from the NE. That’s a solid, promising swell for the point break, but remember, it’s a week and a half out, so treat it as a hopeful call. The long-period swell will shape up nicely at La Barra’s point setup.

The rest of the second week has some swell but the wind is mostly cross-onshore, so it’s not going to be clean. The 5 ft to 6 ft swells in the middle of the second week are too big for beginners anyway, but the onshore chop will make it tough for everyone.

Summing it up: grab the morning of August 27th if you can, and keep an eye on September 10th and 11th for a possible late burst. Everything else is a rest day.

Rusty.

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