Montanita Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here with a look at what’s coming down the line for our little corner of the coast. It’s been a bit of a flat spell and honestly, it’s gonna stay that way for a while before we get anything worth paddling out for.

Right now, the conditions at Montanita are looking pretty sad. For the first few days, we're stuck with small, weak waves and a messy cross-onshore wind. Tuesday the 25th and Wednesday the 26th are a write-off—swell is tiny, barely 2 ft to 2 ft, and the wind is junk. The water temp is nothing unusual for this time of year, so no weird surprises there, but it's not exactly warm enough to make up for the lack of waves.

We go through Thursday and Friday with a bit more energy—the combined energy climbs up into the 200s and 500s (moderate wave energy) by Friday the 28th—but we're still dealing with light cross-onshore breezes. Swell heights start pushing up towards 3 ft to 4 ft, but it’s not clean enough to get excited about. This pattern of "marginal at best" stretches all the way through the end of August and into the first week of September.

Honestly, it’s a long, frustrating gap. From now through the 3rd of September, it’s just a run of poor to marginal conditions. There's no standout day in that whole stretch. You might get a brief window of light winds, but the swell is always crossed up or too small.

Now, heading into the second week of September, we start to see a little more promise. On Thursday the 3rd, we get a bit of a pulse from the WSW with a longer period (19 seconds), giving us a combined energy around 766 (moderate). The wind goes light and onshore, which isn’t ideal, but that longer period means there's some real energy in the water. The swell is around 3 ft. Not epic, but possibly the best we've seen.

Then, Friday the 4th starts to look interesting. Montanita picks up a bit more size, with swell pushing 4 ft from the WSW. Combined energy hits 869 (moderate to strong) and the period is a solid 16 seconds. That's a decent groundswell. The catch? Wind is still a light cross-onshore from the S, so it won’t be glassy, but it won't be a howling mess either. This is likely the best bet in this forecast, but it’s still only a marginal call.

The weekend of the 5th and 6th of September holds similar energy (around 700 combined) with 4 ft to 4 ft swell, but the wind stays on the cross-onshore. It’s surfable, but don’t expect perfection. After that, the energy fades back into the 400s (weak to moderate) as we head into the second week.

For a standout, if I had to pick one, it’s Friday the 4th of September at Montanita. That 4 ft SW groundswell with decent period is the most size and potential we see in the whole window. It’s an advanced wave here, a reef and point break, and it gets crowded often, so bring your patience. But with light winds and that long-period energy, it’s the day to pencil in if you’re keen.

Rusty.

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