Ritoque Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

The overall pattern for us is a solid run of surf starting Friday, July 31st, with some real standout windows in the first week. The water is sitting at about 57°, which is pretty much normal for this time of year, so nothing to worry about on that front.

The action kicks off Friday morning at Ritoque. It’s a bit of a mixed bag to start – we’ve got a 8ft northwest swell, but the wind is a cross-off from the northeast at 12 mph, and the call is for moderate rain. The wave energy is strong at 1309, but the conditions are just marginal. Friday afternoon looks much better, with the wind swinging offshore from the east at 6 mph, cleaning up a 5ft west-northwest swell. The energy drops to 551, but the surf is looking very good.

Saturday, August 1st, is where it starts to get really tasty. Morning glass-off – zero wind, absolutely calm – with a 4ft southwest swell at a juicy 13-second period. The energy is 692, and it’s glassy perfection. The afternoon sees the swell bump up to 5ft from the southwest, still glassy, and the energy jumps to 1024. This is excellent for experienced surfers.

Sunday, August 2nd, is the standout of the first week. Morning glass again, with a 8ft west-southwest swell and a period of 11 seconds. The energy is a massive 1528. The wind is a light northeasterly at 3 mph, but it’s glassy. The afternoon is just as good – 8ft west swell, glassy calm, energy at 1396. This is big, powerful, and clean. For experienced surfers only, this is the best on offer.

Monday, August 3rd, the swell holds at 7ft to 7ft from the west-southwest, but the wind turns onshore from the southwest. Mornings are a bit cross-on, but the afternoon glass-off makes it excellent again. Tuesday and Wednesday drop off in quality with more cross and cross-on winds, though the swell stays around 5ft to 7ft with decent periods.

We get a bit of a gap in real quality from Thursday, August 6th, through to Tuesday, August 11th. The swell is still there, 4ft to 6ft, but the wind is mostly cross-on or onshore, making it choppy or marginal. Not worth getting too excited about for a paddle.

Things get interesting again on Thursday, August 13th. The morning kicks off with a 7ft southwest swell, period only 7 seconds, but it’s glassy. The energy is 886, and the surf is looking very good. The afternoon delivers a 8ft south-southwest swell, still glassy, with energy at 1015. This is another excellent call for experienced surfers.

Then Friday, August 14th, is the real long-range standout. The morning is glassy with a 4ft west-southwest swell, but the period is a massive 17 seconds. The energy is 1544. This is a very long period groundswell, so it’ll be a bit more lined up and powerful. It’s excellent for the experienced crew, but that long period means it might break a bit straight at the beach, which is a thing to keep in mind. The afternoon gets messy, so the morning is the window.

After that, the swell drops off, and the winds get messy again through to the end of the forecast. The second week really has that one Thursday and Friday morning as the tickets.

Rusty.

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