Playa El Palmar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking for Playa El Palmar over this forecast period.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – for most of this outlook, it’s flat and disappointing. There’s a long, dry gap here. We’ve got no proper waves to speak of from the start on July 13 right through pretty much until late in the month. Nearly two full weeks where the swell is tiny, and the wind is generally messy or straight onshore. Not what any of us want.

Let’s break it down. The first couple of weeks are all about poor surf conditions. Swell heights for the morning of July 15 are only 2ft out of the west, but you get a brief moment of glassy conditions then – that NW wind going glass at 5 km/h is a tease, but the swell is weak with combined wave energy reading 28, so it’s just not enough to push any decent shape. Through July 16 to the 19th, the swell picks up just a bit – we see up to 3ft on Thursday the 16th with combined energy reaching 122 (moderate), but it’s all cross-onshore or onshore wind, making it choppy. Those days are a write-off for clean surf.

Then we hit a real quiet spell. From around the 20th of July right through the 24th, the swell drops to nothing. Heights of 0.3ft to 1ft, combined energy barely hitting double digits. You get some clean offshore or cross-off winds on some of those mornings – like Wednesday July 22, with a light SE breeze and swell of 0.7ft at 10 seconds period – but that is not surfable. The ocean’s basically asleep. This stretch is a solid five to six days where you don’t even need to check the buoys; there’s nothing to ride.

Now, here’s where we finally get a glimmer of hope. Towards the very end of the run, on Tuesday morning, July 28, things start to change. The wind turns glassy again, light WSW at 5 km/h, and we get a 3ft swell from the WNW with a period of 6 seconds. The combined energy is up to 77 – still on the weaker side of moderate, but it’s the best we’ve seen in weeks. This is the standout of the entire outlook. The wave comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” with a score that finally shows some life. It’s not going to be epic, but it’ll be clean and rideable on a sandbar that’s fairly consistent and suits an intermediate surfer. The swell direction (WNW) is not bang-on the optimum SW direction from the guidance, but with glassy conditions, you’ll still find a few fun ones. Just keep in mind that this is the only real recommendation over 16 days, so don’t expect barrels or power.

For the rest of the time, the wind is often cross-onshore or onshore, and the swell is tiny or messy. When the swell picks a little on July 25-27, the wind is just too strong and onshore to make it worthwhile. Honestly, for a lot of this period, given the significant onshore winds and small, crumbly swell, this setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer – especially on those afternoons with 15 to 18 mph winds and swell around 2ft.

Water temp on July 13 is 72°F, about average for the time of year with only a +0.7°F anomaly, so no surprises there.

So to sum it up: if you are desperate for a paddle, circle Tuesday morning July 28. Before that, you’re looking at a long, flat, or choppy stretch that’s best spent waxing your board and waiting.

Rusty.

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