Montanita Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Look, I've been staring at the charts for Montanita and, to be honest, it's a tough stretch ahead. The first week and a half is pretty much a write-off, with a lot of poor surf conditions and only marginal windows. The real standout looks like it's going to be that Saturday morning, the 15th of August, so you'll want to keep that date circled on the calendar.

We start off on Saturday, 1 August, with a tiny 1ft swell from the WSW, but the wind is onshore and the energy is weak (278), so it's a no-go. The water temp is sitting at a very unusual 79°, which is a whopping 9° warmer than normal for this time of year – that's a serious anomaly you feel paddling out.

The whole first week and into the second week is a grind. From Sunday, 2 August, right through to Thursday, 14 August, we're looking at poor surf conditions day after day. Swell stays small, mostly between 2ft and 3ft, and the wind is almost always onshore or cross-onshore, ruining any chance of a clean wave. The combined energy stays low, bouncing between 117 and 551, which is moderate at best. There's a brief moment on Friday, 7 August, where the swell bumps up to 3ft from the SW with a 16-second period, but the wind is onshore, so it's messy. The best you can hope for in that stretch is a marginal session on the 6th, 7th, or 12th of August, but it's not worth getting excited about.

Now, here's the one to aim for. On Saturday, 15 August, morning, we finally get a window. The swell is 3ft from the WSW, with a period of 15 seconds – that's a nice, long-period groundswell. The combined energy is moderate (406), but the key is the wind. It's glassy. Zero wind. That means Montanita, a reef and point break exposed to the SW, should be clean and lined up. This is your best chance of the entire 16-day forecast. It's an advanced wave, so be ready for some power, and with the long period, it'll be better formed on the point rather than the reef. The crowds are often there, so expect plenty of company. Sunday, 16 August, tries to hold on with a similar 3ft swell, but the wind swings onshore again, shutting it down.

So, the call is simple: the first 13 days are a flat, onshore mess. The one true standout is the early morning of Saturday, 15 August. It's a long way out, so the forecast is a bit less certain, but if that glassy wind holds, it'll be worth the wait.

Rusty.

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