The Reef (Culebra) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, and I’ve got to be straight with you – the outlook for The Reef over the next 16 days is a pretty bleak one. We’re looking at a long stretch of nothing special, with no real standout days to get excited about. The first bit of surf worth mentioning is on Wednesday the 15th, but it’s tiny – 1 foot of weak, short-period east swell and a lumpy cross-shore wind. Not a chance.

The whole first week is plagued by moderate to fresh cross-shore winds, mostly from the east, and the swell stays small and short-period. The combined energy barely cracks 100 (maxing out at 168 on Sunday the 19th morning), but that’s still weak, and the waves are described as “poor surf conditions” across the board. The Reef is a very consistent reef break exposed to the north, but the wind is coming from the wrong direction and the swell is just too small to do anything.

We don’t really see a window of clean, lined-up surf until maybe Friday the 24th, when a cross-offshore ESE wind at 25 mph cleans things up, but the swell is still only 4 feet from the east with a short period of 5 seconds. That’s more of a kite surfing setup than a wave you’d paddle for. The water temperature is around 82°, which is about average for the time of year, so no surprises there.

Into the second week, the pattern doesn’t change much. There’s a bit of a switch on the 29th and 30th July, with a slightly longer period of 10 seconds from the northeast, but the swell drops to 2 feet–2 feet. The combined energy is under 100 (58–61), and the wind is still cross or cross-off. It’s clean on the 29th afternoon, but there’s just not enough size to ride.

Honestly, if you’re hanging for a wave, you’re going to be disappointed. There’s no standout session here. The whole period is a write-off for surf. Keep an eye on the forecasts, though – it tends not to stay this flat for long.

Rusty

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