La Chocolatera Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s get real about what’s coming up at La Chocolatera.

Honestly, for the next week and a bit, it’s a flat, lumpy mess. We’re looking at a long, frustrating run of poor surf conditions. From now right through to the end of August, there’s basically nothing to get excited about. The swell is tiny, mostly around 1.3ft to 2ft, and it’s coming from the SW with a long period—over 15 seconds at times—but that doesn’t save it. With the wind blowing straight onshore at 9 to 12 mph pretty much the whole time, it’s just choppy and messy. The combined energy is weak, barely cracking 200 (286 on Monday morning), so don’t fool yourself.

This stagnant pattern hangs in there for days. A small bump shows up on Friday the 28th of August with 3.9ft of SW swell, but the wind is cross-onshore and the wave comment calls it marginal at best. The combined energy jumps a bit (859 to 1056), but the quality is still poor. Saturday the 29th pushes a little higher—5.2ft of SW swell—but again, it’s onshore wind and the surf is a write-off. That pattern of being close to rideable but not quite clean keeps up right into the first week of September.

The first real standout window comes on Thursday the 3rd of September. We’ve got 3.9ft to 4.6ft of SW swell with a period of 18 seconds here, and the combined energy is strong at 1157 pushing up to 1439 in the afternoon. The wind is light breeze in the morning, swinging to a gentle cross-onshore later. That’s the best we’ll see for a while. Then Friday the 4th delivers 5.6ft of SW swell from the same direction, with moderate energy hitting 1523. That’s solid, chunky surf for a point break like La Chocolatera, but 5.6ft starts to get a bit much for beginners. The wind stays onshore, which is a shame—if that went offshore, it would be pumping.

Saturday the 5th of September still has 4.9ft of SW swell, but the wind is on again and the afternoon gets blown out. After that, it fades back to smaller, cleaner-but-weak waves through the second week.

So here’s the call: The best of the whole 16-day window is Friday the 4th of September into Saturday morning. Thursday the 3rd is also worth keeping an eye on, especially if that light breeze holds. La Chocolatera is a point break, and with SW swell and a 16-to-18-second period, those waves will wrap in nicely. The optimum swell direction is SW, so it’s a good match. Crowds are possible here on a day like that, but with it being inconsistent and rarely consistently firing, the crew won’t be out in force unless it’s glassy.

Water temp is about 77.5°F right now, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year—a solid 8.8°F above average. That’s seriously unusual. You won’t need a spring suit, just board shorts.

A bit of a flat spell up front, but there’s a decent pulse on the way. Just need the wind to play ball.

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