Papagayo - Playa Blanca Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's take a good, hard look at what we've got coming up for Papagayo - Playa Blanca.

Right off the bat, the outlook is pretty grim for a while. The next several days are a write-off thanks to messy wind and weak swell. You're looking at a solid block of nothing from Thursday the 10th right through to Saturday the 12th, with cross-offshore winds and tiny swell that the models are calling "poor surf conditions." The combined energy barely hits 39 on Thursday, and even when the size bumps up to 6 ft on Saturday, that energy jumps to 445 but it's still a cross-off mess. Wind speeds are sitting between 16 and 22 mph, so it's all chop and no shape. Just not worth paddling out.

Sunday the 13th is the first real spark. The morning sees the wind drop right back to a mere 3 mph, and it’s coming from the north, cross-offshore. The swell settles at a really fun 5 ft with an 8-second period, and the combined energy is a solid 327. It’s a reef setup here, and that shorter period means the sets won’t be too far apart, so you'll get plenty of waves. By afternoon, it goes completely glassy with a southerly breeze at 3 mph, dropping to 4 ft but still clean. This is the standout for the first week, no doubt. Crowds can be possible here, so get on it early or late. The water temperature is about average for this time of year.

After Sunday, it drops off again. Monday the 14th offers some waist-high leftovers from the NNW, period stretching out to 13 seconds, but the cross-shore chop ruins it. Tuesday the 15th has a bit of offshore wind (ENE at 12 mph), but the swell is tiny at 2 ft to 3 ft. The energy is weak, around 85 to 172. It's clean, but just not enough push.

You then hit another quiet spell. The rest of that week and into the next is dominated by cross-offshore northerly winds and small, weak swell. Energy readings bounce between 58 and 145 – that’s weak. Nothing to get excited about until Monday the 21st.

The afternoon of Monday the 21st offers a glimmer of hope with a moderate offshore breeze (NE, 12 mph) and a building 4 ft swell from the north, period 8 seconds, and the energy climbs to 282. Conditions should be clean and fun, but it's not a blow-your-doors-off stand out.

Tuesday the 22nd is a serious one to mark. The afternoon session looks very promising. Wind is almost nothing from the NNE, a clean cross-off, and the swell picks up to 4 ft. But the key is the period jumping to 13 seconds, which is a proper groundswell. The combined energy absolutely hammers up to 972, which is very strong wave energy. The direction is NNW, which isn't its absolute optimum (WSW), but that amount of juice and low wind will make for some powerful, clean lines. The longer period might make it a bit tricky at a beach, but with a reef setup, it’s going to handle that energy beautifully.

Wednesday the 23rd morning keeps the party going with a 5 ft swell from the north, period back to 8 seconds, but with very light cross-off wind from the NNE (6 mph) and 492 energy. It’s a good follow-up day. The afternoon gets a bit messy with the cross-shore wind.

And for the long-range, Friday the 25th is forecast to have a very long period swell (15 seconds) from the NNW, with a combined energy of 684. The size is smaller at 0.9m (3 ft), so it’ll be about long, clean lines rather than size. The wind is light and cross-off from the north at 9 mph. This is a promising end to the window, but with it being that far out, take it as a heads-up.

For the absolute best of it, I’d be booking a session for Sunday afternoon the 13th for that pure glassy fun or, if you want the juice, Tuesday afternoon the 22nd for that big, long-period groundswell under clean skies.

Rusty.

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