Guethary - Les Alcyons/Avalanche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the next couple of weeks for our corner of the Basque coast. Let’s be honest with each other, it’s been a slow start. The ocean is just not giving us much to work with right now.

For the first few days, we’re looking at tiny, weak dribble. Tuesday the 18th and Wednesday the 19th are basically a write-off. The swell is knee-high at best, with short, weak periods and onshore winds. You’d be better off waxing your board and watching the horizon.

Things finally start to wake up on Thursday the 20th. The morning looks promising, with a glassy surface and a clean, long-period groundswell arriving from the NW. We’re talking about 4ft of swell from the west-northwest, with a solid 11-second period. It’s still not huge, but the wave energy is building to a moderate 304. For a high-performance reef like Guethary - Les Alcyons/Avalanche, this is the standout window. The water is 77°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, so you can leave the 4/3 at home. However, this is an expert-only reef break, and with the crowds listed as “often,” you won’t be alone out there.

The wind holds for Friday morning the 21st, but the swell is getting a bit more size at 5ft and a 10-second period. It’s a marginal call with a cross-on breeze. Saturday the 22nd morning cleans up nicely with light offshore winds from the ESE and a clean 4ft NW swell. That’s another solid window.

After that, the surf fades again through the end of August and the first few days of September. There’s a lot of flat, gutless days in there with no real quality.

Then, look at this – Thursday the 27th of August. A big pulse of energy is forecast, with the combined swell energy jumping to a very strong 1184. The morning is showing 8ft of WNW swell, but it’s coming with a fresh 19 mph cross-shore wind. That’s a lot of wind for an 8ft wave. It looks more like a day for the kite crew than a paddle surfer. A similar but slightly smaller swell follows on Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th morning, which has cleaner conditions and 4ft waves.

Overall, the best bet is to pencil in Thursday the 20th and Saturday the 22nd mornings for the cleanest, most lined-up waves at Guethary. The big stuff later in the month is there, but it’s a battle with the wind.

Rusty.

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