Playa Varesse Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the surf outlook for the Lake Maggiore area, specifically for Playa Varesse.

Right off the bat, I gotta be honest with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty flat and uninspiring. We’ve got a long run of tiny, weak waves that just aren’t going to get you excited. The forecast is showing a lot of days with poor surf conditions, and the combined swell energy is mostly in the double digits (like 40 or 28), which is just weak sauce. The water temp is sitting at 51°F which is *much warmer than normal* for this time of year, but that’s about the only thing that’s out of the ordinary.

We start off with a real dry spell. From Monday the 31st of August right through to Thursday the 3rd of September, you’re looking at nothing but knee-high dribble, maybe 1ft to 2ft from the east. The wind is all over the place, but the waves are just too small to bother with. The combined energy barely cracks 40.

Things try to pick up a little on Friday the 4th of September. The morning sees a tiny bump to 3ft from the south, but it’s a short period choppy thing (8 seconds). The combined energy hits 154, which is finally moderate, but the conditions are only described as "surfable but very ordinary." It’s not a standout.

Then we hit a real wall. Saturday the 5th of September goes back to tiny 1.0ft dribble, and then Sunday the 6th of September brings a big spike in size – 8ft from the SSE – but it’s absolutely hammered by a fresh 35 km/h cross-shore wind. The combined energy is a massive 1359, but the report says "poor surf conditions" and it’ll be lumpy and messy. That’s a pass for me.

The best window of the entire forecast finally shows up on Monday the 7th of September. The morning surf is 6ft from the SSE with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is a solid 472 – moderate energy. More importantly, the wind is a gentle 15 km/h cross-offshore, which should keep things clean. The report says "expect good surf conditions." This is the one to circle. It’s still not a giant swell, but it’s the cleanest and most promising of the whole run.

Tuesday the 8th of September morning is also worth a look, with 5ft from the SSE and a glassy offshore wind from the NW. The combined energy is 462. It’s a good follow-up session, but the afternoon turns choppy.

After that, it all fades away again. The rest of the second week is back to 2ft to 3ft dribble from the east, with weak energy in the 60s and 70s. The final day of the forecast, Tuesday the 15th of September, has a long period 2ft swell from the south (12 seconds) but the energy is still weak (142) and the wind is cross-shore.

So, overall: it’s a real quiet stretch. The only true standouts are the Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th of September mornings. If you’re a beginner, the 5ft to 6ft is pushing your limit, but for the rest of us, that’s the best clean swell we’ve got. Don’t get your hopes up for the rest of it.

Rusty.

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