Surf Forecasts:
Playa Samara surf forecast from 17 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Tuesday 18 Aug, 3AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 14s period, SW swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Tuesday 18 Aug, 9PM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 16s period, SW swell with 477 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 18 Aug, 3AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 14s period with SW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Playa Samara this week:
The surf forecast for Playa Samara over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Aug 18) at 3AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.1m and 14s period with a secondary swell of 0.9m and 7s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Playa Samara in the next 16 days are 1.0m 16s and forecast to arrive on Tuesday (Aug 18) at 9PM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.3m 5s period and expected on Monday (Aug 24) at 3AM.
| Wave Type | Time (CST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 3AM (Tue 18th Aug) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 14s |
| Best Surf | 3AM (Tue 18th Aug) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 14s |
| Most Powerful | 9PM (Tue 18th Aug) | 3.5ft (1.0m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Playa Samara over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cookin' for Playa Samara over the next couple of weeks. We're kicking things off Monday, the 17th of August, with a clean little pulse.
The overall pattern is a slow burn. We start with fun, manageable surf and it just builds into a real solid run of waves towards the end. There are no big gaps of flatness here; the consistency is there, with a few mornings that are gonna be worth setting that alarm for.
Monday morning the 17th, the swell is a clean 3.6 ft from the SW with a long 14-second period. The combined energy is a solid 560 (moderate) and with a light NNE breeze going offshore, it's gonna be glassy. This is a great, user-friendly day for all levels.
Things stay pretty consistent through the rest of the week but the swell drops a little. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (18th & 19th) have similar 2.9 ft to 3.6 ft SW swell, with offshore and glassy winds. It's clean and fun. The water temp is about average for the time of year, so no thermal shock.
We get a couple of smaller days, but the standout is definitely building for the weekend of the 29th of August. Saturday morning the 29th, we see a jump to 4.3 ft SW swell with a 17-second period, and the combined energy hits a strong 947. That's a proper groundswell. The wind is dead calm, glassy as can be. This is the real deal.
Then, for the experts, Sunday the 30th of August is your peak. We’ve got 4.6 ft SW swell with a 16-second period and a massive combined energy of 1000. The wind is set to be glassy from the north. That's a powerful, clean wave that’s going to be for the experienced crew only. After that, we trickle down nicely into September with some more clean, glassy mornings.
Overall, you wouldn't want to miss the 29th and 30th of August. The consistency is excellent, the wind windows are prime, and the long-period SW swell finally delivers some real grunt.
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 26mm), heaviest during Tue afternoon. Warm (max 30°C on Mon morning, min 25°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light. | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryModerate rain (total 16mm), heaviest on Fri afternoon. Warm (max 30°C on Fri morning, min 26°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Monday 17 | Tuesday 18 | Wednesday 19 | Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 13 | S 9 | SSW 11 | SSW 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | S 10 | S 9 | SW 18 | SW 18 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 428 | 428 | 410 | 422 | 336 | 477 | 355 | 305 | 238 | 142 | 154 | 292 | 356 | 351 | 286 | 223 | 194 | 153 | 144 | 263 | 260 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | off | cross-on | cross | cross-off | cross-on | cross-off | cross | cross-on | glassy | glassy | cross-on | off | glassy | cross-on | glassy | glassy | on | off | cross-off | on | off |
High Tide | 6:00PM2.40m | 6:22AM2.54m | 6:44PM2.24m | 7:04AM2.38m | 7:29PM2.07m | 7:49AM2.22m | 8:19PM1.91m | 8:40AM2.09m | 9:19PM1.80m | 9:41AM1.99m | 10:30PM1.75m | 10:49AM1.97m | 11:41PM1.79m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 11:57AM0.25m | 00:06AM0.30m | 12:40PM0.37m | 00:48AM0.46m | 1:25PM0.51m | 1:31AM0.62m | 2:15PM0.64m | 2:20AM0.76m | 3:13PM0.74m | 3:19AM0.87m | 4:20PM0.79m | 4:28AM0.92m | 5:28PM0.77m | ||||||||
 |  |  | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — | 5:33 | — | — |
 | — | 5:59 | — | — | 5:58 | — | — | 5:58 | — | — | 5:57 | — | — | 5:57 | — | — | 5:55 | — | — | 5:55 | — |
mm | — | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 3 | 2 | — | 4 | 2 | — | 5 | — | — | 5 | — |
Temp °C | 30 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 27 |
Feels °C | 33 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 32 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | SW 14 | S 8 | SW 16 | SW 15 | SW 14 | S 8 | SSW 8 | S 9 | SSW 11 | SSW 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | S 10 | S 9 | S 9 | S 9 |
| kJ | 428 | 428 | 410 | 422 | 120 | 477 | 355 | 305 | 116 | 120 | 154 | 292 | 356 | 351 | 286 | 223 | 194 | 153 | 136 | 136 | 109 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 7 | S 8 | SSW 7 | S 8 | SW 14 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | SW 14 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 13 | SW 15 | SW 15 | SSW 16 | SW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SW 13 | SW 18 | SW 18 |
| kJ | 112 | 115 | 91 | 100 | 336 | 95 | 108 | 89 | 238 | 142 | 136 | 84 | 55 | 55 | 169 | 95 | 134 | 118 | 144 | 263 | 260 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | S 10 | S 12 | S 12 | S 11 | SW 7 | SW 21 | S 13 | S 12 | SSW 19 | SW 12 | SW 12 | SW 21 | SW 21 | SW 20 | SW 20 | SW 20 | SW 13 | SW 13 |
| kJ | 20 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 13 | 47 | 36 | 36 | 22 | 18 | 68 | 98 | 97 | 134 | 84 | 79 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | WSW 6 | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 9 | 45 | 14 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 16 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 45 | 9 | 9 | 45 | 9 | 9 | 52 | 9 | 9 | 43 | 9 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Golfo de Nicoya | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in Costa Rica | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Playa Samara surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Playa Samara Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Playa Samara provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Playa Samara can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Playa Samara surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Playa Samara) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Playa Samara may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Playa Samara is 31 km (19 miles) from Nicoya. If you plan a holiday in Golfo de Nicoya, look for hotels and other accommodation in Nicoya. Nicoya has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest