Capbreton - La Piste Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you about the stretch ahead. It's a tough run. The 16-day outlook for Capbreton - La Piste is mostly a write-off for decent waves. We're looking at a serious gap of over a week with nothing worth paddling out for, so patience is the name of the game.

It starts off rough. Friday the 3rd has a 5ft swell from the NW with a period of 11 seconds, but the wind is a cross-on from the NW at 9 mph, making it choppy and messy. The combined swell energy (415) is actually moderate, but it's all wasted on poor conditions. Saturday the 4th is more of the same—a NW cross-on breeze spoiling a 4ft WNW swell. Sunday the 5th morning offers a glimmer of hope with a glassy, calm sea and a tiny 2ft swell from the WNW, but it's barely surfable and gets rated as very ordinary. That's about as good as it gets for a while.

From Monday the 6th right through to the end of the second week, the swell mostly drops to tiny, knee-high dribble (1ft to 2ft) with periods all under 10 seconds. There are plenty of glassy, clean mornings—like Tuesday the 7th, Wednesday the 8th, and Sunday the 12th—but with combined energy values often below 100, there's just no push behind the waves to make it worthwhile. The water temp at the start is a very unusual 74°, a whopping 6° warmer than average for the time of year, so you won't need a thick suit if you're just floating around.

The only real standout, if you can call it that, is a brief bump around the 15th and 16th of July. On Wednesday morning the 15th, we see a glassy, offshore breeze with a 2ft WNW swell, and the energy climbs to 131. Then Thursday morning the 16th has a 4ft WNW swell with a wonky 5-second period, but glassy conditions again. The forecast says "surfable but very ordinary conditions," which is the best rating we get. It's small and inconsistent, but for an advanced surfer who just needs a slide, those early hours might be worth a look. Expect crowds here often, so don't be surprised to see a few others with the same idea.

The long-range looks slightly more promising, but it's far out. By Saturday the 18th, we get a bigger 5ft NW swell with a period of 9 seconds and moderate energy (339), but the wind swings onshore from the W, ruining the shape again. That's the curse of this run—every time a little energy shows up, the wind turns bad.

Overall, it's a lean period. There's a solid 10-day stretch with nothing worth mentioning, so do something else with your time. But keep an eye on those glassy mornings around the 15th and 16th—they're the only real whispers of rideable waves in the whole window. The forecasts can always change.

Rusty.

Read more