La Palue Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee, let’s have a look at the next couple of weeks at La Palue. It’s going to be a bit of a mixed bag, with some real quality hidden in there, but we’ve got to wade through a fair bit of junk first.

Right off the bat, Tuesday the 15th is a write-off – messy cross-onshore wind and weak, short-period swell. That carries into Wednesday and Thursday, too. The wind stays ugly and the swell is building but it's all junk. Thursday afternoon the wind swings onshore and we’ve got rain showers. Honestly, it’s a pretty ordinary start.

Things get interesting on Friday the 18th. We’ve got a big, long-period groundswell pushing in from the WNW, hitting 10ft with a 14-second period. The combined energy is ripping at 3184 (strong to very strong). Problem is, it’s just too much for La Palue – the forecast literally says it’s predicted to be too big for this break. If you’re an absolute expert and you know the lineup blindfolded, maybe, but for the rest of us, it’s a pass. The wind is light cross-onshore in the morning, but that size is just wild.

Saturday the 19th is a dud again. Sunday the 20th, though, that’s where the light turns on. The morning session is the one. Glassy conditions with an ESE breeze at just 3 mph, and a clean 5ft swell from the WNW. The water temp is 65° which is about a degree warmer than normal for this time of year – feels good. That’s our first real standout: clean, lined-up, no wind.

Monday the 21st keeps it going. Morning offshore from the east at 9 mph, 5ft swell with a nice 12-second period. Clean, proper, surfable. Good shape. The next few days are a bit of a mix – Tuesday the 22nd is clean in the morning but smaller, and Wednesday the 23rd is a bombshell. That morning session: 5ft but with a very long 15-second period groundswell, offshore wind from the ENE at 9 mph, and the combined energy is 1254. This is excellent for experienced surfers. The only caveat with that very long period is that at a beach break like La Palue, it might be a bit too straight and walled-up for some – needs a good bank.

That Wednesday is the absolute highlight of the whole forecast. After that, Thursday the 24th and Friday the 25th mornings are both clean and solid again with offshore winds, but nothing quite as pumping.

The second week tails off. The last weekend of the month, from the 28th onwards, the swell drops away significantly. By Sunday the 28th, we’re down to 2ft and 2ft – barely a ripple, but clean offshore wind. It stays small through to the 30th, though that last morning, Wednesday the 30th of September, has a little spike back up to 6ft from the west with a clean offshore breeze. That’s a nice little bonus to finish the run, but it’s not the same quality as that Wednesday the 23rd.

So, to sum it up: the first week is mostly a waste, but Sunday the 20th through to the end of the next week has some absolute gems. The true standouts are the glassy Sunday morning of the 20th, and the big, clean, long-period morning on Wednesday the 23rd – that’s the session to circle.

Stay safe out there.

Rusty

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