Montanita Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s cooking.

The 16-day window starts off quiet. The first few days are a bit of a dud, with marginal conditions and some tricky tide slots. The real action, such as it is, starts to build from Thursday the 3rd of September, but even then it’s a slow burner.

Montanita is the only spot in the mix, a reef and point break that needs a solid SW swell to really get going. The water is sitting at 79° – that’s 9° warmer than usual for this time of year, which is a real anomaly. The ocean is feeling like a bathtub.

The early part of the week is a no-go. Tuesday the 1st and Wednesday the 2nd are offering small, weak swell around 3ft from the SW, with periods ticking up to 16 seconds on Wednesday afternoon. The combined energy (500) is moderate, but the wind is light and offshore, so the lack of size is the real killer. Not worth paddling out.

Thursday the 3rd morning sees a slight bump: 3ft from the WSW, period jumping to 18 seconds, and the energy climbs to 714. But it’s cross-on and a bit choppy by the afternoon. This is a long-period groundswell, so it could wrap around the point nicely, but the size just isn’t there.

The standout window, if you’re desperate, is Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th. Friday morning sees 5ft swell from the WSW with a 16-second period and energy breaking into the 1009 range – that’s moderate to strong energy. The winds are light and cross-on, but it’s the biggest of the run. By Friday afternoon, it hits 5ft with energy at 1202, the strongest of the whole forecast. The offshore wind is light and clean. This is the best chance for a wave, but 5ft is still a beginner-friendly size. For advanced surfers, it’s a fun little peak, but not a heavy day.

Saturday the 5th drops back to 4ft, still from the WSW, and the period shortens to 15 seconds. The energy is still moderate (738). Winds are light and offshore again in the morning, so it’ll be clean, but the swell is tapering.

After that, Sunday the 6th through to the end of the 16 days is a slow slide into smaller, weaker swells. The energy drops into the 200-500 range, and periods go from 14 to 18 seconds, but the heights are mostly 1ft to 3ft. The wind stays light and often offshore, so the conditions are clean, but there’s just not enough juice. The point is likely to be flat, maybe a few knee-high sets for the patient.

The long-range stuff, like the 14th to the 16th of September, shows tiny 2ft to 2ft swells with long periods of 16-18 seconds. That’s a tease – all that energy, but no size. It’s a classic case of a long-period groundswell hitting a reef and point that just doesn’t have the fetch to push it up.

Overall, Friday the 4th is the only real standout. If you’re local, you might get a few waist-high, clean lines on the point in the afternoon. For the rest of it, it’s a waiting game. The water is unseasonably warm, the crowds are often around at Montanita, so expect some company if you do go.

Rusty.

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