Playa El Palmar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, and I've gotta be straight with you – the outlook for Playa El Palmar (sandbar) over the next 16 days is a tough one. We're looking at a long stretch of pretty ordinary conditions, with a big gap of poor surf right through the start. The water temp is sitting at 72°, which is about average for this time of year, so at least the water's fine. But for the most part, the swell is tiny, the wind is usually onshore, and the energy is weak.

Right from the get-go, Tuesday morning the 4th of August, we've got a tiny 2 ft swell from the WNW with a period of only 5 seconds and a combined energy of just 39 – that's weak, barely a ripple. The wind is onshore from the WNW, and it's called "poor surf conditions." And that's the story for days: small, weak, wind-affected slop. From the 4th right through to the 12th of August, we're looking at a solid 8-day gap where the surf is really not worth paddling out for. The swell barely scrapes 3 ft, periods are short, and the wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore. There's a brief moment on the morning of Friday the 7th with a light cross-offshore breeze from the SSE, giving us clean conditions, but the swell is only 3 ft with a 6-second period – it's just not enough to get excited about.

The first real glimmer of hope comes on the morning of Thursday the 13th of August. The swell is only 2 ft from the WNW, but the wind is glassy – light from the south – and the water is clean. The period is still short at 5 seconds, but with glassy conditions, you might be able to find a few fun little waves. The combined energy is 54, still weak, but it's the best we've seen. The comment says "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions," and honestly, that's the high point of the whole forecast.

After that, we get a bit of a bump. Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th see the swell push up to 4 ft from the WNW, with periods around 6-7 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 143 and even 261 on the Saturday afternoon – that's moderate energy, finally. But the wind is onshore from the W or WNW, so it's going to be choppy and messy. This is the biggest swell of the period, but the wind is ruining it. For a beach break like Playa El Palmar, with onshore winds and that kind of swell, it's better suited for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The final days fade out into tiny, weak conditions again. So, if you're desperate, the glassy morning on Thursday the 13th is the only standout, but it's not a great one. Otherwise, the biggest swell on the 15th is a total write-off wind-wise. The long-range stuff is too far out to promise anything, but given the pattern, it doesn't look like it's turning around anytime soon.

Rusty.

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