Las Piscinas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve been staring at the charts for Las Piscinas, and honestly, it’s a tough run. We’ve got a 16-day window but there’s barely a pulse worth paddling for. The whole period is plagued by moderate onshore to cross-onshore breezes, mostly from the north-northeast, and the swell direction is almost always from the north or north-northeast, which isn’t the optimum for this reef setup. The water temp is sitting at 25°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year—pleasant enough for a swim, but it’s not doing much for the surf quality.

Alright, let’s start from the top. Sunday the 30th of August kicks off with a NNE 12 mph cross-onshore and 5 ft of NNE swell at a short, weak 7 seconds. Wave energy is moderate at best (296), but the conditions are described as poor—choppy and ugly. That’s a hard pass. The same story rolls through Monday and Tuesday: 3 ft to 5 ft, wind stays cross-onshore or just onshore, periods stuck at 7 or 8 seconds. Nothing clean, nothing inviting. The combined energy hangs around 260-296, which is weak for a reef break like this.

We get a bump in size on Wednesday the 2nd of September morning: 7 ft from NNE, period at 8 seconds, with an onshore wind. The combined energy jumps to 639—that’s moderate wave energy—but it’s still onshore and the surf quality is rated poor. At 7 ft, this is getting too big for beginners, and with the wind spoiling it, it’s only for the experienced crew, and even then, it’ll be sloppy.

From Thursday the 3rd through to the 8th of September, the swell drops back to 4 ft to 5 ft, with periods staying in the 7-8 second range, and the wind is either onshore or cross-onshore from the north to northwest. The energy dips to around 215-358. Still no good. On the 8th of September, we see a spike in period—12 seconds for the morning and 11 seconds for the afternoon—but the swell height is tiny, just 2 ft. That long period groundswell would normally be a gem, but it’s too small to break properly, and the cross-onshore wind kills any hope. The combined energy is 273 and 223—weak.

Now, the rest of the forecast is a rinse and repeat. From the 9th of September through to the 14th, swells hover between 2 ft and 6 ft, periods are short—6 to 8 seconds—and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore from the N to NNE. The only flicker of hope comes on Sunday the 13th of September morning, when we get a 5 ft NNE swell at 8 seconds with a light onshore breeze, and the energy is 288. The notes call it “marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions.” That’s the best we get—a 1 out of 10. Hardly a standout. Crowds aren’t an issue because no one’s going out.

The last few days, Monday the 14th, are a whimper: 3 ft and 3 ft with weak energy (102 and 87). This is a flat spell for Las Piscinas. There are no good options in the entire 16-day window. For a reef break that’s consistent, this is a rare blank run. If you’re desperate, the Wednesday the 2nd of September swell is the only shot for experts willing to paddle into onshore slop, but honestly, the setup is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing with these winds.

Stay patient, the forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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