Playa de Traba Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what the next couple of weeks are shaping up like for Playa de Traba.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a tough stretch for paddle surfing. The first week and a half is pretty grim, with a whole lot of nothing and some messy conditions. The real standout window is looking like the Friday of the 28th of August, when we finally get a bit of size and cleaner conditions. The water temp is sitting around 65°, which is a bit colder than we’d usually expect for this time of year, so you might want a spring suit.

Starting off, there’s no real surf on offer until the morning of Thursday the 20th of August. That’s a good two-day dry spell right off the bat. When it does kick off, it’s marginal. Thursday morning we see a 5ft swell from the NNW, but it’s a short period windswell (8 seconds) and the wind is cross-shore, leaving a slight chop. The combined energy is moderate (498). It’s a “maybe” at best. Thursday afternoon picks up a little to 5ft, and the period stretches to 12 seconds, which is a nice long groundswell, but the wind swings cross-onshore, making it fairly choppy. The energy bumps up (756).

Friday the 21st is the same story – 6ft to 6ft from the NNW, but with that cross-onshore wind. It’s punchy (energy around 783 to 762) but messy. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd are a write-off with moderate onshore and cross-shore winds, keeping the surf poor and choppy. The swell sticks around 5ft to 7ft but it’s just not clean.

We get a real drop-off Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th. Monday is tiny and weak. Tuesday the 25th sees a 4ft WNW swell with clean, cross-off winds from the south, which is a nice change. The energy is moderate (242), but the size is small and the period is short (8-9 seconds). It’s clean, but not really enough to get excited about.

Wednesday the 26th is more of the same, small and clean in the morning, but then the wind picks up.

Now, here’s the one that catches my eye. Thursday the 27th of August sees a jump in size to 8ft from the NW, but the wind is onshore and it’s a choppy mess. The energy is strong (971). It’s a pass.

The best of the run comes on Friday, the 28th of August. The morning session is the standout. We’re looking at a solid 8ft swell from the WNW, with a nice 10-second period pushing a *very strong* energy of 1064. The wind is light and from the southwest, giving us a light cross-shore breeze. That’s going to keep the surface clean. This is big, powerful, and clean. It’s over 8ft, so this is strictly for experienced surfers only. The afternoon drops a bit to 7ft, but the wind shifts onshore and the energy drops to 836. The morning is the window.

After that, it fades. Saturday the 29th is back to 5ft with cross-shore wind, and by Sunday the 30th it’s small and ordinary, though we get a glassy moment in the afternoon – a 3ft swell with glassy conditions. Nice for a longboard, but small.

The first week of September looks like a return to small, weak, and mostly poor conditions. There’s a window on the morning of the 1st of September with a 2ft, clean cross-off swell (155 energy), but it’s small. The 2nd of September has a weirdly long-period 18-second swell at 1ft, but the energy is moderate (334) and the wind is cross-shore. It’s a tease.

So, to sum it up: the first week is a wash. The 25th is clean but small. The 28th of August morning is the big dog, but it’s for experts only. The rest is a mixed bag of small, messy, or both. For a beginner, this is a tough forecast. You’d be waiting for a cleaner, smaller day like the 30th of August afternoon.

Rusty.

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