Barinatxe - La Salvaje Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what the ocean's got cooking for us over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – it's looking pretty grim for a while. The first solid recommendation I see isn't until Sunday the 9th of August, so we've got a full week of flat, mushy, or just plain messy conditions to get through first. Don't get your hopes up for the first few days; it's more of a waiting game.

Now, on Sunday the 9th of August, things finally start to look interesting. We're seeing a bump in energy with a combined swell energy of (226) in the morning, and it climbs to (256) by the afternoon. That's moderate wave energy building through the day. The swell is coming from the NNW, pushing in at around 4ft to 5ft, with a short period of 8 seconds. That size is getting into the "too big for beginners" territory in the afternoon. The downside? The wind is cross-onshore from the WNW and then onshore from the NW. That's gonna chop things up a bit. The break is Barinatxe - La Salvaje, a beach and reef setup that's exposed to the NW. It's an expert-only break, consistent, and crowds are often around, so be prepared to share it. Given the swell direction is from the NNW, it matches the optimum NW direction pretty well, but that short-period, onshore wind combo means it won't be perfect. For the experts in the crew, it's the best thing on offer, but it's not going to be a classic.

Monday the 10th of August still has some pulse left, with a combined energy of (157) in the morning and a NNW swell around 4ft, but the period is still short at 7 seconds and the wind is onshore. It'll be a step down from Sunday.

After that, it fades out again. The rest of the forecast period into the second week shows tiny swell with poor conditions. There is a morning on the 15th of August (Saturday) that has glassy conditions at Barinatxe with a tiny 3ft NW swell, but the period is a paltry 4 seconds. It's calm wind, so it'll look clean as a whistle, but there's no real energy. Sunday the 16th of August has a tiny 0.7ft WNW swell and clean cross-offshore wind from the ESE, but again, too small to bother with.

The water temperature at the start of this was sitting at around 74°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so the water feels nice even if the waves don't.

So, to call it: if you're an expert and you're desperate, Sunday the 9th of August at Barinatxe - La Salvaje is your only real window. It's going to be bumpy and powerful, but it's the only game in town. Otherwise, save the energy for another week.

Rusty.

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