La Chocolatera Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer.

To be straight with you, the start of this 16-day window is a bit of a write-off. We’re looking at a stretch from Thursday the 20th of August right through to Wednesday the 27th of August where the surf is basically flat or too blown out to bother with. Swell is struggling to push past 2 ft, energy is weak (between 119 and 360), and the wind is either onshore or chopping the surface. A few fleeting morning windows on Sunday the 23rd and the 21st show marginal potential, but nothing you’d call a real session. The period is often long, over 15 seconds, but with that onshore wind, the point is too messy to handle it cleanly.

Your first actual chance for a decent paddle comes on Thursday morning, the 27th of August. This is the standout window. La Chocolatera (Ecuador) wakes up to clear skies, glassy conditions with a light offshore breeze out of the WSW at just 3 mph. The swell is 2 ft, from the WSW, with a 21-second period – that’s a very long-period groundswell. Now, a period that big for a point break like La Chocolatera can be a good thing: it means shape, power, and longer gaps between sets, which makes the paddle out a breeze. The combined energy is 231, moderate, but the glassy, clean surface is what makes this the morning to watch. Just be aware this spot is “inconsistent” so it doesn’t always light up, but when the conditions align like this, it’s a real payoff.

That Thursday afternoon, the wind shifts to a moderate cross-shore at 12 mph, and the waves drop off. So it’s a short-lived window.

Now, jumping ahead to Friday morning, the 28th of August, things get a bit more interesting in size, but the quality drops. We see a jump in swell height to 5 ft, from the SW, with a period of 18 seconds. The energy goes strong, reading 1641. That’s a solid swell. The kicker? The wind is onshore, gusty, and the surf is marginal. For intermediate surfers, this is probably about the limit before the size becomes a handful, and with the wind messing it up, expect bumpy conditions. The afternoon builds to 6 ft and energy of 2055, but still onshore. The weekend of the 29th and 30th of August stays in that 5 ft to 6 ft range, with stronger onshore winds, so it’s going to be a rough, closed-out mess.

Heading into the start of September, the swell drops back. The 1st of September sees energy drop to 398 with 3 ft pulses, winds light but onshore – not worth the drive. There’s a potential small uptick around Thursday morning, the 4th of September, with 4 ft swell from the SW, 16-second period, and energy of 773, but again the wind is cross-onshore, so you’re fighting chop.

Overall, the best bet is that glassy Thursday morning of August 27th. It’s not big, but when the wind disappears and the point has that long-period swell running, it’s a treat for the soul. The rest of the window has size for the brave or the kite crew, but for a clean wave, you wait for that one morning.

Rusty.

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