Montanita Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what Montanita’s got cooking for us over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, the first week is a bit of a struggle. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak swell with cross-onshore winds that just aren’t doing us any favours. From Thursday the 20th right through to Wednesday the 26th of August, it’s pretty much a write-off. The waves are tiny, mostly around 1 ft to 2 ft, and the energy is weak. The wind is constantly coming from the wrong direction, making things choppy and messy. There’s just nothing to get excited about here.

Now, we do get a little glimmer of hope on the morning of Thursday the 27th of August. The wind goes glassy, which is a major positive, and the swell has some decent long-period energy (16 seconds) from the SW. The wave height is still only 2 ft, but there’s some push in the water. It’s a brief window, though, as the afternoon gets chopped up again.

The real standout, and the one you want to circle on your calendar, is Friday the 28th of August. The swell jumps up to 4 ft in the morning and 5 ft in the afternoon, with a very long period of 18 seconds coming from the SW. This is powerful groundswell, and the energy is massive. This is classic Montanita. That long period, SW groundswell is perfect for this reef and point setup, wrapping in nicely. The winds are light, so it’s going to be clean. Just be aware, with that size and power, it's not a day for beginners.

Saturday the 29th of August keeps the juice flowing with 5 ft to 5 ft SW swell, but the energy is still very strong. The wind is still light, but the morning is cross-on, so it won’t be as perfect as Friday. The swell is getting big, so it’s getting more serious.

After that, the swell slowly backs off into the first week of September. We see pulses of 3 ft to 4 ft SW and WSW swell, with periods around 14-16 seconds, and the energy is moderate. The wind is still a bit of a nuisance, mostly cross-on or onshore, so conditions will be mixed. There’s potential for a few fun ones on the mornings of the 3rd and 4th of September, but nothing that really screams "drop everything and go."

To sum it up: the next week is a bust. The clear standout is Friday the 28th of August, with Saturday the 29th a close second. The long-range stuff around the 3rd and 4th of September is promising but less certain. For Montanita, a reef and point break, that long-period SW groundswell is the gold standard, and we get a proper taste of it at the end of August.

Rusty.

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