Matanzas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what we’ve got cooking.

Right off the bat, we’re looking at a classic winter run here at Matanzas, a reef setup that’s very consistent and exposed to the southwest. The water’s sitting at 56°, which is pretty much spot on for this time of year – nothing weird going on there.

Saturday the 29th is the standout. The morning’s clean with a light northeast cross-offshore breeze, and we’ve got a solid 7ft groundswell rolling in from the west-southwest with a 12-second period. The energy’s properly pumping at 1072. This is proper surf for experienced surfers – it’s pushing the 5ft mark and definitely not for beginners. The waves will have real shape and power, but that wind will keep the face clean. If you’re intermediate or above and you’ve got Saturday morning free, get on it.

Saturday afternoon gets messy. The wind swings around to a cross-onshore and picks up, and the quality drops right out.

Sunday the 30th is a good second option. Morning again is the call: 6ft swell, same west-southwest direction, 11-second period, clean light cross-offshore breeze from the north-northeast. Energy’s still solid at 689. It’s a solid session, just not quite as much power as Saturday.

Monday the 31st has a glassy morning – 5 km/h from the south-southwest, which is as good as it gets for clean conditions. The swell’s dropped to 5ft, but it’s still 11 seconds, so there’s shape. Energy’s moderate at 599. This is a fun, user-friendly morning with no wind to worry about. Good for a wider range of surfers.

From Tuesday the 1st of September onward, things go downhill fast. The wind picks up and sits in the cross to cross-onshore zone for days, and the swell quality just ain’t there. The energy dips into the weak range (around 400) and the sessions are marginal to poor. There’s a couple of pulses of longer-period swell around the 2nd and 3rd of September with 18-second and 17-second periods, and energy climbs back up to 1204 on Thursday the 3rd afternoon, but the wind is a fresh 30 km/h cross-shore. That combo means lumpy, lumpy conditions – better for kites than paddles if you ask me.

For the second week, from the 5th of September onwards, we’re looking at small, short-period, wind-affected surf. Nothing worth writing home about. A few mornings have lighter wind and small swell around 4ft to 5ft, but it’s all cross-onshore or onshore, and the period drops to 7-9 seconds by the end. The energy stays weak to moderate. There’s no real standout in that second week – it’s a bit of a flat, messy run.

Bottom line: your best bet is Saturday 29th August morning for the biggest, cleanest swell of the window. Sunday morning and Monday morning are solid fallbacks. After that, the window closes up for quality surf for a solid week or more until things maybe look a little better around the 10th, but even then it’s marginal at best. Crowds are sometimes an issue here, but with this forecast, mid-week should be quiet.

Rusty.

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