Playa de Arrigunaga Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got to be straight with you—Playa de Arrigunaga is lookin' pretty flat and sad for the next couple of weeks. The water’s running at 73°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year, a solid 6° above average, so that’s a bit of a weird one for a Basque summer.

Right now, and through the first week, there’s just nothing going on. We’re talkin’ tiny little 1 ft to 2 ft NW windswells, with weak energy (values between 7 and 114), and short periods under 11 seconds. The winds are mostly light, but they’re cross-on or onshore, so it’s messy and gutless. You’ll see a few glassy mornings, like Sunday the 12th and again on Wednesday the 15th, but with only 2 ft and 0.7 ft of swell, it’s barely a ripple. There’s a big gap of nada for recommendations over this whole stretch—just poor surf condition after poor surf condition.

Then we hit the second week. Finally, a pulse shows up. On Monday the 20th afternoon, we get a 4 ft WNW swell with a short 5-second period, energy picking up to 105 (moderate). It’s onshore NW wind at 9 mph, so it’s a bit lumpy, but at least there’s some size. Tuesday the 21st morning keeps that 4 ft NW, energy jumping to 147, but still with onshore wind.

The real standout, and the only break worth your time across the whole run, is Tuesday the 21st afternoon and Wednesday the 22nd morning. On Tuesday afternoon, swell hits 7 ft from the NW at 9 seconds, energy pumping hard at 739 (strong). Wednesday morning goes even bigger: 8 ft from the NW, 9-second period, energy up to 971 (strong). Now, 8 ft is expert territory only—too big for beginners—but the morning of Wednesday the 22nd has glassy conditions with a slight air, so it’ll be clean. That’s the one window where you might get some proper waves, but keep in mind it’s a beach break and with that period around 8 to 9 seconds, it’s not the longest groundswell, so it could be a bit closed out. The wind on Tuesday afternoon is light cross-on, so not perfect but workable. The rest of that week drops back to tiny junk.

Honestly, for a sandbar that’s fairly consistent and exposed to the NW, this is a lousy stretch. If you’re a kite surfer, that windy Wednesday the 22nd afternoon with 12 mph onshore winds and 7 ft swell might look more interesting than paddling.

Keep an eye on the end of the month, but for now, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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