Guethary - Les Alcyons/Avalanche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the surf scene for Guethary - Les Alcyons/Avalanche over the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you – it’s a rough stretch for the most part. This is a heavy, expert-level reef break, and it’s exposed to the swell, but the conditions are just not lining up for a good paddle session for a long time.

We’re starting off on Friday the 24th of July with tiny, weak energy (18) and a messy cross-onshore wind. No good. The water is sitting at 77°, which is a whole 7° warmer than normal for this time of year. That’s very unusual, giving it a real bathwater feel.

Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th see a pulse of swell come in, hitting 5 ft to 7 ft. The energy picks up significantly (185 up to 433), but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, and the period is a short, weak 6 to 7 seconds. It’s going to be a choppy, blown-out mess – not worth paddling out for.

Monday the 27th is still poor. The wind stays onshore, keeping things messy.

Then we get a glimmer. Tuesday morning the 28th of July is the standout of the entire forecast. The wind goes glassy, dead calm from the ESE, and we’ve got a clean 4 ft of swell from the NW with a better 10-second period. The energy is moderate at 318. This is it. For a morning session, the waves will be clean and lined up on that reef. The crowd factor is ‘often,’ so expect some company. This is the best you’re going to get.

Wednesday morning the 29th has another glassy window, but the swell drops to 3 ft with only 166 energy. It’s surfable but ordinary. The wind shifts onshore again by the afternoon.

From Thursday the 30th of July onwards, it’s a long, sad story. The swell drops right off. We’re seeing heights under 3 ft, energy falling into double digits (98, 95, 57...), and a mix of cross-onshore winds. There’s a moment on Friday the 31st with a clean offshore wind from the ESE, but the swell is a pathetic 2 ft – not enough to push over the reef.

The entire first week of August looks flat and weak. There’s a very long-period groundswell on Wednesday the 5th of August (13 seconds), but it’s only 1 ft. That’s not enough energy to break properly. The rest of the week is all tiny, poor-quality dribble.

So, the honest truth: the only real chance for a decent wave is a 6-hour window on Tuesday morning, the 28th of July. If you can’t make that, you’re looking at a long, blank run of poor conditions. This is a heavy reef, so when it’s on, it’s special, but when it’s off, like it is for most of this forecast, it’s just a flat, choppy piece of coast.

Rusty.

Read more