Zarautz Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it.

The next couple of weeks are a mixed bag. We’ve got a bit of a slow start, but there are a couple of windows where it really turns on. Don't book your whole life around the far-out stuff just yet, but there are some promising days on the horizon.

Right off the bat, Wednesday and Thursday are pretty flat and weak. We're looking at knee-high dribble, mostly. The water is a warm 76°, which is 5° warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s pretty wild, the ocean feels like a bathtub. Way warmer than it should be. The swell energy is weak, with values in the 30s and 40s, so not much to get excited about. You'd be better off having a coffee and watching the horizon.

Friday, the swell picks up a touch to around 3ft, but it’s a bit jumbled with a cross-off wind. The energy is moderate, around 146, but it's not clean. It’s still surfable for the keen ones, but it's not worth rushing out for.

Saturday morning is our first real green light. We’ve got a clean 5ft of WNW swell, glassy conditions with light E wind, and good energy readings around 307. Zarautz is a very consistent beach break, so it should be handling this well. This will be a fun one, a proper longboarder's morning with clean little walls. The crowd will be out, though, as it’s often busy here, and the water will still be warm.

Sunday is the standout of this first week. The swell pushes up to 5ft, the period jumps to 11 seconds, and the morning is glassy with zero wind. The energy reading hits 627, which is proper. This is the best surf of the run so far. The waves will have some real push to them, and the clean conditions will make Zarautz look like a postcard. The afternoon gets a bit lumpy with a cross-on breeze, so get your fill early. This is a morning for a proper session.

Monday still has some size, 5ft in the morning with clean glassy conditions and a good energy reading of 396. It's slightly smaller period, but still fun. The afternoon becomes a bit of a mess with onshore wind, so again, mornings are your friend here.

Tuesday sees the swell start to back off a bit, down to 5ft. The conditions are questionable, with a bit of onshore wind. It’s not a complete write-off but it won't be as crisp as Sunday and Monday. The energy is still moderate, around 356.

Then we hit a bit of a lull. Wednesday through Friday of this week and into the weekend gets smaller, with waves dropping to under 3ft. It’s not dead, with knee-to-waist high surf, but it's not worth the paddle. Conditions are often clean but the waves are just ordinary.

But hold on, Saturday the 5th of September. The morning is small and clean, but the afternoon is where it's at. The swell jumps to 5ft with a long 12-second period, and the energy spikes to 593. The wind is onshore, but the swell might have enough juice to handle it. It looks more promising than the rating suggests.

Sunday the 6th has a clean 3ft in the morning with good energy, a decent fun wave.

But the real standout of the whole window is Monday the 7th of September. We're looking at a clean 4ft of NNW swell with a very long 12-second period. The winds are glassy and light offshore. The energy is high at 552. This is a prolonged period of clean conditions, with both morning and afternoon looking good. This is one for the diary. It’s a week and a half out, so treat it as a very promising lead, not a guarantee. The long period will make it break a bit more lined up, which is right up Zarautz's alley.

After that, the back half of the second week fades out. It drops in size and energy, and we’re back to small, weaker surf. A few clean mornings but nothing with any power. There's a bit of a pulse on the 10th with a 4ft NW swell and some cross-off wind, but it's not in the same league as the 7th.

So, bottom line: Get on it Sunday morning, and circle Monday the 7th of September on the calendar. That’s the one to plan for. Everything else is just background noise.

Rusty

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