El Sardinero - Primera Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about El Sardinero - Primera. To be straight with you, it’s a quiet stretch of sand that’s pretty sheltered, so it takes a specific kind of swell to wake it up. Over the next couple of weeks, that’s just not happening. The swell direction it really wants is from the north, but what we’re seeing are tiny, weak pulses from the north-west and north-northwest.

The water temperature right now is sitting at 71°F, which is a solid 4°F warmer than normal for this time of year — that’s noticeably warm, feels more like a bath than a typical summer.

We kick off on Saturday, July 11, with some 2ft NW swell, but the wind is onshore and there’s barely any energy — combined energy is just 92, we call that weak. Saturday afternoon gets a bit choppier with a cross-on breeze, still not worth paddling out for.

Sunday morning, July 12, the wind goes glassy with a light offshore, which is a beautiful thing to see — but the swell is still only 2ft and weak at 74 energy. It’s clean, but there’s just no push. That afternoon the wind swings cross-off but brings a risk of thunderstorms, and the wave height drops.

Monday the 13th has tiny 3ft waves but with a period of only 6 seconds — that’s short-period wind swell, and it’s messy with a cross-on wind. From Tuesday, July 14, right through to Sunday, July 26, it’s a long dry spell. We’re looking at days and days of 0.7ft to 1ft slop with barely any energy — most of the time combined energy sits under 60. Even on days when the wind is clean and offshore, the swell just isn’t there.

There’s a little lift around Tuesday, July 22, where we get some 4ft waves from the north, and energy climbs to 245, which is moderate. But the period is still only 7 seconds, and it’s still called poor surf conditions. That’s the best of a bad bunch, but it’s nothing to get excited about — the wind is light and cross-shore, so it’s not blown out, but the waves will be weak and mushy. A small window that might just be okay for a longboard on the high tide, but not a standout.

Truth is, for the next two weeks, there’s no solid north swell and the energy never gets strong. You could sit on a longboard and bob around on some glassy mornings (like Sunday the 12th or Wednesday the 15th), but you won’t be riding much. It’s a real flat spell.

Rusty

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