Playa El Palmar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s take a look at this. Playa El Palmar, and I gotta tell you, it’s a rough stretch ahead. This is a sandbar, fairly exposed to a south-west swell, and for the next 16 days, the surf is mostly flat and ugly. There’s a long gap of nothing worth paddling for from the end of July all the way through to mid-August. The waves are small, the wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and the energy is pathetic.

The only window that shows any real promise is the morning of Friday the 15th of August. That morning, we’ve got a bit of a pulse. The swell is 4ft from the west-northwest, with a period of 7 seconds, and the combined energy hits 243 (moderate). That’s the biggest bump in the whole run. The wind is offshore from the east-southeast at 12 mph, so it’s clean. The report says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” so it’s not going to be a classic, but it’s the only window with a clean offshore wind and some size. It’s still a short period swell, so it’ll be a bit lumpy and won’t have that long, peeling wall. For a sandbar, the short period and modest size means it’ll be a bit soft and sectiony, but the offshore wind will help. Crowds are often here, so expect a few others with the same idea.

Water temperature is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual.

Before that, it’s a dead zone. From the 31st of July right through to the 14th of August, the waves are between 1ft and 4ft, but the wind is almost always onshore, mostly from the west or west-northwest, turning the ocean into a messy, choppy, blown-out mess. The energy is mostly in the double digits, way below 100 for most of it, so it’s weak. There’s a couple of mornings on the 8th and 11th of August where the wind is glassy or light cross-shore, but the swell is still tiny – 3ft to 4ft – and the period is short, so you’re just bobbing around. Not worth the wetsuit.

So, to sum it up: for the next two weeks, Playa El Palmar is a write-off. The only day that might get your heart beating is the morning of the 15th of August. That’s your one shot. It’s not a perfect day, but it’s the only game in town. The rest is a waiting game. Forecasts can change, but right now, this is a dry spell.

Rusty.

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