San Juan Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what San Juan is offering up over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – it’s looking pretty grim for a while. The forecast shows a long stretch of small, weak surf with lousy wind. We’re talking about a solid week of nothing really worth paddling out for. The first real sign of life doesn’t show up until Thursday the 16th of July, so don’t bother waxing up before then.

The early days are all small, short-period slop. Swell heights are struggling to hit even 3ft, with periods mostly around 5 to 6 seconds, and the combined energy is weak, bouncing around the 20 to 164 mark. On top of that, the wind is either straight onshore or cross-onshore, just chopping everything up. It’s mostly poor surf conditions with scores of zero, so it’s a total write-off until mid-month.

Now, things do start to change, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. From Thursday the 16th of July onwards, the swell starts to pick up. By Friday the 17th, we’re looking at 6ft to 7ft of NNE swell, with period creeping up to 8 seconds. The combined energy jumps into the 400s, which is moderate. It’s still onshore wind though, so it won’t be pretty. The size keeps building through the weekend and into the next week.

The real standout, if you can handle it, is Thursday the 23rd of July. The forecast is showing a solid 12ft of NNE swell, with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy hits a whopping 1751, which is strong to very strong – there’s a ton of power in the water. This is big, expert-only territory. At over 8ft, this is only for the experienced crew. The wave comment still says “poor surf conditions,” likely because that onshore wind is gonna make it a raw, challenging session. For most of us, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

There’s really only one break on the cards here: San Juan (reef). It’s a consistent, exposed reef that needs a NNW swell direction to be at its best. We’ve got NE and NNE swells coming in, which isn’t its optimum, so the shape might not be perfect. It’s also an expert spot, and with those sizes, that’s no joke. Crowds are listed as “sometimes,” so you might have some company, but at that size, it’ll thin out quickly. The water temp is about average for this time of year, nothing wild to report there.

In short, you’re waiting at least a week for anything surfable, and then it’s all big, powerful, and blown out. Keep an eye on the forecasts, but don’t hold your breath for clean conditions.

Rusty.

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