Playa Pantaleta Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, cobber, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at this 16-day stretch for Playa Pantaleta.

Honestly, this is a tough one. For the first few days, there’s just nothing doing. The energy is weak, we’re talking around 57 to 68 on the combined scale, and the swell is short-winded at 6 seconds, coming from the ENE. That’s not the direction we want for this spot – we’re looking for a NNE swell to get the best out of this beach and reef set-up. So, Thursday and Friday (September 3 & 4) are a dead loss, with poor surf and a cross-shore wind messing things up.

We finally see a little life on Saturday morning, September 5. The swell bumps up to 0.9m (that’s about 0.3 ft for the purists), still from the wrong direction, but the wind goes glassy. The conditions are ordinary, and it’s barely surfable, but for a brief window you might find a clean little wave if you’re desperate. At least you won’t be fighting a breeze. That’s the only flicker in the first week.

From Sunday through to the following week, it’s a graveyard. The swell builds a bit – we see heights around 1.3m to 1.5m (4 ft to 5 ft) from Monday September 7 onwards, and the energy climbs into the moderate zone (173 to 251), but the wind stays stubbornly cross-shore from the E or ENE, 10 to 20 km/h (6 to 12 mph). That keeps the surface chopped and the waves messy. The period is still short, so it’s weak on the face.

The best chance in this whole outlook is slim, but it lands on Thursday September 10, Friday September 11, and Saturday September 12. The swell is pushing 1.4m to 1.5m (5 ft to 5 ft) from the ENE at 7 to 8 seconds, with moderate energy (213 to 251). It’s only rated as marginal due to poor tide or conditions, but the wind is light, only 10 km/h (6 mph), so the cross-chop won't be as bad. You’re still stuck with the wrong swell direction for optimum form, so expect a blocky wave. If you’re a strong intermediate, you *might* get a few corners on the reef section when the tide is right. But it’s not a standout by any stretch.

The end of the forecast window, September 17 and 18, we see the swell drop back down to nothing, with weak energy (25 to 47) and minimal swell height. The only positive is that on the morning of September 17 the wind goes cross-offshore and the conditions clean right up, but there’s barely a wave to ride.

So, the bottom line: this is a lean run. You’ll have a blank stretch from now until roughly Saturday the 5th, then another gap until the 10th. The only couple of days that offer anything at all are that Saturday morning glass-off on the 5th, and the marginal window around the 10th to 12th. For the rest, it’s a write-off. No real standouts here, just a few moments where you might get wet.

Signing off, Rusty.

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