La Palue Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break down the next couple of weeks for La Palue. It’s a real mixed bag, with some serious size on the horizon but the wind is going to be the main player for most of it.

The water temp is about 66°, so normal for this time of year.

The first little window that might get you wet is Saturday morning, the 22nd of August. The swell is tiny, only 2ft out of the W, but you’ve got a clean, cross-off breeze from the NE at 6 mph. The wave energy is weak (140), so it’s a longboard or a fun day on a fish, but it’s clean.

Then we hit a big gap. From Sunday the 23rd through Tuesday the 25th of August, it’s pretty much flat and poor. A real dry spell.

The energy picks up on Wednesday the 26th, but it’s messy. Wednesday morning brings a 6ft SW swell (388 energy), but it’s a short period at 7 seconds, and even though the wind is offshore, the quality is poor. Wednesday afternoon gets bigger, 7ft from SW (571 energy), but with a cross-shore wind and a risk of thunderstorms, it’s a choppy mess. The same story continues through the end of the month: size, but the wind is always on it or side-shore, making it lumpy.

The one real standout – and I mean the *only* one – is Saturday morning, the 29th of August. The models are showing a big 10ft WSW groundswell (1688 energy), with a light onshore breeze from the WSW at 9 mph. The catch is that the forecast says the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. This is strictly for the experts. The wave energy is very strong (1688), and with a 9-second period, there’s a lot of power. It’s the kind of day where you need to know exactly what you’re doing.

After that, the last week of the forecast is a series of 6ft to 8ft swells, but the wind never really cleans up. The morning of the 2nd of September looks promising on paper with a 7ft W swell and clean offshore winds, but the score is low. The afternoon of the 2nd of September again shows a massive 10ft swell (1608 energy) with clean offshore winds, but it’s flagged as too big for the break.

So, for the average surfer, the best bet is that tiny, clean Saturday morning on the 22nd. The 29th of August is for the big dogs only. The rest is a battle with the wind. If you’re into kite surfing, the strong winds and big swells from the 28th onwards might look way more appealing than a paddle session.

Rusty.

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