Playa Bonfil Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it.

The next couple of weeks are looking pretty solid for Playa Bonfil, with a bit of a pulse of bigger swell arriving later on. The first few days are all about clean mornings and weaker afternoon winds, so make the most of the early sessions. The water’s sitting at 88°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year—nothing crazy, but you won’t need a wetsuit, that’s for sure.

Saturday morning (August 15) is your first real window to paddle out. There’s a clean 5ft SW groundswell with a 16-second period, and the wind is dead glassy out of the N. It’s got moderate-to-strong energy in the water (combined energy 1193), and the waves are going to be proper and powerful. This is one of the standouts of the whole period. The afternoon turns into a cross-shore mess with 15 mph WSW wind, so don’t bother after lunch.

Sunday morning (16th) is still good—dropping a touch to 4ft SW with 15-second period, still glassy. Another clean one. Monday and Tuesday mornings (17th and 18th) follow the same script: clean, 4-4ft SW swell, offshore or glassy winds. These are your everyday go-to sessions—nothing massive, but super fun on a sandbar. The afternoons have been getting chopped up, so treat them as a write-off.

Wednesday (19th) and Thursday (20th) mornings stay clean but the swell eases off to around 4ft and then 3ft. Thursday afternoon, things start to get a bit weird with a risk of thunderstorms and the wind swinging onshore. From there, we hit a rough patch. Friday (21st) is no good—the wind is howling 19-22 mph from the E, lumpy and cross, with a bumpy 7-10ft SSE swell piling in. That’s more of a kitesurf day than a paddle surf day. Not worth it.

Saturday afternoon (22nd) is where the magic comes back. The swell jumps to 8ft from the SSW, with 11-12 second period, but the wind drops to a light ENE cross-off and the conditions clean right up. The energy is strong (combined energy 1697-2247). This is the second big standout of the window—big, powerful waves for the experienced crew. It’s not a beginner day at all, but for the experts, this is the one to circle.

After that, it eases back down. Sunday (23rd) morning is a bit smaller at 3ft but still clean. The middle of the week (24th-25th) is small and mixed, with a few clean windows in the mornings. By the morning of the 29th, another solid SW groundswell fills in at 5ft with a 16-second period, glassy conditions—that’s another great one to look forward to, though it’s a bit further out, so take it with a grain of salt. The 30th looks similar, slightly smaller, still clean.

So overall: make the most of the Saturday (15th) morning and Saturday (22nd) afternoon sessions. Both are the best on offer. Everything else is just standard spring-type surf. Plenty of good mornings if you’re keen.

Keep an eye on the tides—the sandbar can be finicky—but the quality is there when the wind’s right.

Rusty.

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