La Palue Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the table for La Palue.

To be straight up with you, the next two weeks are pretty grim for surf. We’ve got a long, frustrating stretch of onshore wind and messy conditions, and the scoring doesn’t back any of it up as a solid call. Most of the time it’s a write-off. Right from Wednesday the 19th, we’re looking at a poor start with light rain and a cross-on breeze from the northwest at 12 mph, and that’s for a 1.6m swell from the west with a short 6-second period. The combined energy of all swells directed here is weak at 312. Not worth paddling out.

Wednesday afternoon doesn’t get any better: wind goes onshore from the WNW at 16 mph, 6 ft swell but poor surf conditions again. That onshore trend sticks around through Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st. Even when we get a 8 ft swell on Thursday morning with a combined energy of 1572 (moderate wave energy), that onshore wind kills it.

Saturday the 22nd sees the swell drop right off to 3 ft from the NW with only 7 seconds of period, combined energy at 114 (weak). The wind goes cross from the north at just 6 mph, giving us light cross-shore but the surf is reported as poor. By Saturday afternoon, wind swings to NNE at 12 mph, cross-off, and it’s clean but tiny – 2 ft. The water temperature is 67°, a touch warmer than normal for the time of year.

We then hit a solid gap with hardly any surf from Sunday the 23rd right through to Monday the 24th morning. The swell drops to 0.3 ft by Monday morning. That’s a dead couple of days.

Now, late Monday afternoon the 24th there’s a brief flicker of something rideable: 4 ft from the north with a short 5-second period, combined energy at a weak 113, but importantly the wind goes offshore from the ENE at 9 mph, giving us clean conditions. The forecast says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions”. It’s something, but not a standout.

Then another gap sets in. Tuesday the 25th and Wednesday the 26th are both poor, with onshore and cross-on winds again. Things pick up on Thursday the 27th morning with a 6 ft swell from the WSW and combined energy at 639 (moderate), but wind onshore from the WNW at 16 mph kills it again. Thursday afternoon: 8 ft from the west, 10-second period, combined energy at 1109 (moderate), but that onshore wind from the WSW at 12 mph still makes it “marginal”. Not worth a special trip.

We roll into the second week and it’s more of the same. From Friday the 28th onward we get persistent cross to onshore winds, often strong, with swells up to 5 ft but lumpy and choppy.

Then, way out there on Monday the 31st of August, the swell punches up to 12 ft from the west – that’s big. The combined energy hits 3036 (strong wave energy). But the wind is onshore from the WNW at 22 mph, so it’ll be blown out and dangerous. That’s only for experts anyway, and under these winds it’s not even a good call for them. The 12 ft continues into Monday afternoon with a 10-second period but still onshore at 16 mph.

On Tuesday the 1st of September, the swell hangs around 8 ft from the west, 8-second period, combined energy around 959 to 1008 (moderate), but the wind stays onshore from the west at 12-16 mph. Still poor.

The last chance we see is Thursday the 3rd of September morning: the swell drops to 3 ft from the WNW with 8-second period, combined energy at a weak 162, but the wind goes cross-off from the SSE at just 6 mph. That’s clean. It’s tiny, but if you’re desperate, you might get a couple of ordinary ones. I wouldn’t call it a standout.

Honestly, in that whole 16-day run, there’s no day where everything lines up. The nearest we come is that Monday 24th afternoon for a small, clean session, and maybe the Thursday 3rd morning for a clean but weak wave. Everything else is wind-affected or too big and messy.

Given La Palue is an exposed beach setup, with this much onshore wind and consistent swell, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on most days here for the next two weeks.

Rusty.

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