Playa El Palmar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s get real. If you’re looking at the next couple of weeks, you’re going to need a whole lot of patience. We’ve got a long, flat spell ahead before things finally get their act together, and even then, it’s not going to be a classic. But hey, that’s the life we chose.

The water’s sitting at 74°, which is about average for this time of year. Nothing weird going on there. The story is the lack of swell. The energy in the water is weak, barely registering in the low double digits. We’re talking combined swell energies of 41, 60, even down to single digits. It’s just not doing anything.

The first real chance of a wave doesn’t come until Thursday the 13th, and even that’s a struggle. There’s a tiny 2ft W swell with a 9-second period, but the energy is weak (41). Thursday morning is clean with a light cross-off breeze, but it’s just not enough to get excited about. Thursday afternoon goes glassy, but the swell is still small. Honestly, it’s just a tease.

Friday the 14th is more of the same, small and uninspiring. Saturday and Sunday see a slight bump to 3ft, but the winds are all over the place and it’s mostly cross-shore or onshore. The energy is still weak, topping out at 83 on Saturday morning. Not worth the paddle out.

From the 17th through the 22nd, it’s a total write-off. Swell drops right off to 0.7ft, with energy numbers plumbing the depths—down to 4 at one point. You’d be better off finding a lake or a pool because the ocean is flat.

Finally, around Sunday the 23rd, we see a pulse. The swell picks up to 3ft from the WNW with a 6-second period. It’s a short-period swell, so not a ton of punch, but at least there’s something. The energy starts to climb into the moderate range, hitting 65 that morning. The problem is, the wind is cross-shore and chopped up. Surfable, but you’ll be battling the crud.

That trend continues into Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th, with the swell holding around 3ft to 4ft from the WNW. The energy gets up to 94 on Tuesday morning, which is the most we’ll see in this whole stretch. But again, it’s a short-period swell with moderate cross-onshore winds. It’s messy.

This is the best we’ve got, but for a sandbar like Playa El Palmar, a short-period W/NW swell like this is going to be lumpy and closed-out. It’s more of a novelty skim than a proper surf. The waves won’t have any real shape. With more energy and a more favorable wind, this could be something, but as it stands, it’s a low-quality option for the desperate.

After that, things just fade back away again, dropping down to nothing by the 28th. So there you have it. A couple of small windows with weak, choppy waves, but nothing that’s going to make you call in sick for work. It’s a rough go.

Signing off,
Rusty

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