Playa Pantaleta Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Let’s talk about what’s happening at Playa Pantaleta.

Right now, it’s a pretty quiet start. The first few days—Wednesday the 2nd through Friday the 4th—are a no-go. Swell’s weak, around 3ft to 4ft from the ENE with a short period of only 5-6 seconds, and the energy is low, sitting at just 50 to 119. The wind’s been cross-shore the whole time, so it’s choppy and messy. Not worth paddling out.

Saturday the 5th afternoon finally gives us a little glimmer. The swell stays small at 3ft from the ENE, period still short at 6 seconds, but the wind backs off a touch and goes cross-offshore. That cleans things up, and the wave comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” The combined energy here is 74, so still pretty weak, but it’s the first window where you could get wet. Then Sunday the 6th and Monday the 7th go backward again—more cross-shore wind, bumpy surface, and the swell picks up a bit to 4ft-5ft, but it’s all poor quality.

Tuesday the 8th through Friday the 11th? More of the same. Swell heights bump up to 4ft-5ft from the ENE, periods stuck at 7 seconds, and the wind stays cross-shore. The wave energy climbs into the 200s (242, 275), but it’s all poor surf conditions. The wind never gets clean, so it’s just chop-on-chop.

Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th are still average. The swell holds at 4ft-5ft ENE, period 7 seconds, energy in the 120-230 range, and it’s still cross-shore. By Sunday afternoon, though, things start looking borderline—“marginal surf forecast” with 5ft and 230 energy, plus a light breeze. Getting closer.

Monday the 14th has the biggest swell of the stretch at 6ft from the ENE, period 7 seconds, and energy hits 279. But again, cross-shore wind keeps it from firing. It’s still classed as marginal at best.

Then we get to Wednesday the 16th afternoon and Thursday the 17th morning—this is the real standout. Wednesday afternoon: wind drops to glassy from the ENE at just 3 mph. Swell is 4ft, period 6 seconds, but the energy is 152 and the wave comment finally says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” Thursday morning is even better: glassy conditions again, ENE wind at 3 mph, swell 4ft, period 6 seconds, but the energy jumps to 180 and it’s still surfable. That’s the cleanest window in the whole 16 days. The water temp anomaly is average, nothing unusual, so it’s your standard tropical bathwater.

The beach-and-reef setup at Playa Pantaleta is fairly consistent, so it’s not a dead zone, but these first two weeks are mostly frustrating. The best call is to wait for that Wednesday the 16th afternoon to Thursday the 17th morning glass-off. It’s not a big swell, but it’ll be clean, and that’s a win around here.

Rusty.

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