Peñascal Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the menu for Peñascal.

We’re looking at a run of surf that’s there, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The real standout is the first couple of days, with a solid, long-period groundswell wrapping in. The water is wild, sitting at 71°F and a massive 9°F warmer than normal for this time of year—that’s very unusual, so you’ll be in for a warm one.

The kick-off is Monday the 27th of July. We’ve got a 5ft swell from the SW with a long 16-second period, pumping a strong 1435 combined energy. The wind is onshore from the south at 9 mph, which is a bit of a bummer, keeping things from being perfect. It’s a point break and exposed to the SW, so that’s the direction it wants. This is advanced territory at that size and with that energy, and it’s a rare spot that’s fairly consistent, so the potential is big. It’s not the cleanest, but the grunt is there.

Moving into Tuesday morning, the swell holds at 5ft from the SW, with a 15-second period, and the energy is still strong at 1208. The wind drops to a light 6 mph, but it’s cross-on from the SW, creating a few ripples. It’s still a solid option for the crew who can handle it.

By Wednesday the 29th, the swell drops slightly to 5ft, and the period shortens to 13 seconds, with energy down to 1004. The wind is still light and cross-on. The quality is marginal, and the scores reflect that it’s not firing on all cylinders.

From Thursday the 30th of July onward, we see a steady decline. The swell drops to 4ft by Thursday, and the energy falls into the moderate range. The wind stays light but mostly onshore or cross-on. By Friday the 31st, the swell is down to 3ft, and the conditions are poor. The weekend of the 1st and 2nd of August is weak, with short-period, wind-affected slop. There’s a gap of a few days here where it’s just not worth paddling out.

We get a little uptick around the 5th and 6th of August, with a 3ft to 4ft SW swell and a long period of 14 to 17 seconds, pushing energy back into the moderate range. The wind is still light cross-on, so it’s a bit frustrating—good lines might be there but bumpy.

The best late call is on the 9th of August, Sunday morning. The swell jumps to 7ft from the SSW with a 13-second period and a massive 1811 combined energy. The wind is light and cross-shore from the WSW. That’s a big, powerful swell for Peñascal, and with clean cross-shore wind, it’s shaping up to be a serious session for the experts. This one is over 8ft, so it’s experts only, and the period is around 13 seconds, which is a nice groundswell but can make a point break like this stand up nicely. That’s the one to circle on the calendar.

The following Monday and Tuesday, the 10th and 11th of August, still have a solid 6ft to 7ft of swell, but the wind shifts back to cross-on, so the quality drops off.

Overall, the first day and that Sunday the 9th are the real standouts. The rest of the sixteen days are mostly marginal, with a lot of light onshore wind keeping the surface messy. It’s not a total washout, but you’ve got to pick your windows.

Rusty.

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