Montanita Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's talk about what's cooking at Montanita.

Alright, listen up. For the next two weeks, Montanita is going to be a tale of two halves, but honestly, neither one is going to have you calling in sick to work. This is a reef and point set-up that needs a good push from the southwest, and it's just not getting the love it needs for most of the window. The upshot? The water is feeling like a warm bath, sitting at a very unusual 79° right now and the anomaly is a huge 9° warmer than what you'd expect for mid-August. You won't need a wetsuit, that's for sure, but you'll be needing a lot of patience.

The forecast kicks off with a bit of a tease. Friday morning the 14th, we have some waist-high swell, 4ft from the WSW, with a nice long 17-second period that gives it some real grunt. The combined energy is moderate, sitting at 832. The wind is light and onshore from the SW, which will chop it up a bit. It’s classified as marginal, and honestly, it's more of a "sit and watch the lines roll through" kind of morning than a proper session. Friday afternoon and through Saturday keep the same energy, 4ft to 4ft of WSW swell, but the wind stays onshore, and the period drops. It’s small and weak, not really worth paddling out for.

Sunday the 16th, the swell drops off a cliff. We're down to 3ft on the morning with a short, weak 14-second period and the wind goes cross-onshore. The energy drops significantly to 513. It’s just not happening. From Sunday afternoon all the way through the whole of the following week and into the start of the second week, things get flat and pretty grim. We're talking days and days of tiny, weak swell under 3ft, with periods all over the shop but mostly from a short, weak fetch. The wind stays onshore or cross-onshore, and the energy readings are low, often dropping into the hundreds. For a solid week and a half, from the 16th through the 25th of August, the surf is mostly rubbish. There’s a brief pulse on the 19th where the swell bumps back up to 4ft, but the period plummets to a junk 9 seconds and the wind is cross-onshore. It's poor.

Things are looking a little better by late in the second week. The morning of Friday the 28th of August sees a pulse of 3ft SW swell with a decent 16-second period, giving a moderate combined energy of 375. The wind is only a slight air, coming cross-onshore, which might make for some glassy, clean conditions. This is marginal, but it might be the best of a bad bunch. Saturday the 29th is similar, with 3ft from the SW but with a shorter period and a bit more breeze. Don’t be surprised if you have the place to yourself, though there are reports that crowds can be an issue here, so that's one upside.

The Bottom Line: If you're desperate for a paddle, the Friday morning the 14th has the most size and energy, and it's a long-period groundswell which is good for a point break like this, but the onshore wind will be a problem. The real standout, and I mean the only real glimmer of hope in this whole 16-day window, is the morning of Friday the 28th of August. It won't be big, but with that light wind and clean lines, it could offer up the cleanest waves of the entire forecast. It's a long way out, so keep your fingers crossed.

Stay stoked, or at least, stay patient.

Rusty

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