Capbreton - La Piste Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin' for Capbreton - La Piste.

Well, I gotta be straight with you – this is a tough outlook. We’re lookin’ at a solid run of days where the surf just isn’t cooperating. The patterns are off, and the ocean’s not delivering anything worth paddlin’ out for.

For the next week and a half, from Thursday the 16th of July all the way through to Monday the 27th of July, it’s a proper drought. Every day in that stretch is tagged with “poor surf conditions”. We get bits of swell here and there, but it’s tiny, onshore, or both. The energy is low – you’re looking at combined swell energy figures in the teens and twenties for the first several days, barely a ripple. Winds are mostly onshore or cross-onshore, keepin' things choppy. On Saturday the 18th of July, we get a glassy morning with a tiny 1ft swell from the NW, but at a short 4-second period, it’s just not gonna offer anything. It’s a flat spell, plain and simple.

Then, around Sunday the 26th of July, we finally see some pulse. The swell starts to push up to 4ft and 5ft from the WNW, with the combined energy climbing into the 140-190 range (moderate energy). A bit of size, but the wind is still cross-onshore, so it’ll be a mess. The same goes for Monday the 27th – 5ft swells but with onshore winds, making it poor surf.

Finally, after this long wait, we get a couple of small windows worth mentionin'. The best of a bad lot lands on Tuesday the 28th of July, in the morning. The swell drops back to 3ft from the NW, but the wind goes glassy. Absolutely flat calm. That’s the only time in the whole 16 days we get clean conditions. The combined energy is 131, which is weak, and the period is 8 seconds, so it’s not gonna bowl you over, but at least it’ll be tidy. That’s the pick of the bunch, if you can call it that.

Then on Wednesday the 29th of July, in the morning, we get another chance. The swell is 3ft from the NW, but this time the wind is from the East at 10 km/h – offshore. Clean conditions. The energy is similarly weak (104), but a clean 3ft wave at La Piste is better than a 5ft onshore mess. It’s the only other time we see a clean window.

So, to sum it up: there’s a long, grim stretch of flatness and poor wind for most of the 16 days. Don’t bother for the first week and a half. The only two mornings that are worth a look are the mornings of Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday the 29th of July, with small but clean waves. Glassy on Tuesday, offshore on Wednesday. That’s as good as it gets. For a spot that’s fairly consistent, this is a rough patch, but you know how it goes – stay patient, forecasts can change.

Rusty.

Read more