Zicatela Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfers, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s heading our way.

We’ve got a solid run of surf on the cards at the main break, starting this Wednesday and stretching out a couple of weeks. There’s no gap at the start—we’re straight into it.

The big news is a beautiful, long-period SSW groundswell that shows up right away. Wednesday morning is the standout, and it’s a classic Zicatela day. We’re looking at a solid 6 ft of swell out of the SSW, with a very long 16-second period pushing a strong 1441 units of energy behind it. Glassy conditions with a light ESE air, so it’s going to be clean. This is the pick of the whole period—excellent, powerful surf for experienced surfers. If you’re not comfortable on a big, grinding beach break, this one might be too much. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so nothing wild there.

Thursday and Friday mornings ease off a touch to 4 ft, but still with that lovely 15-second period. Both mornings are glassy or near glassy (WNW 5 km/h on Friday), so the quality stays high. Saturday and Sunday mornings look similar, with 4 ft and 4 ft SSW swells, glassy conditions, and good energy (around 647-791 units). The pattern holds through the first week, with clean mornings giving way to afternoon onshores and a risk of thunderstorms.

Monday the 13th is a bit of a mixed bag. The morning is a write-off with gusty cross-offshore winds, but the afternoon flips. A new swell comes in—7 ft from the SE, but with a short period of 8 seconds. That’s a lot of energy (1200 units), but the short period means it might be a bit bouncy. Good for experienced surfers again, but less clean.

Into the second week, swells ease off. From around July 15th onward, we’re looking at smaller waves, mostly in the 2 ft to 3 ft range. There are still some promising windows, like Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th mornings, with 3 ft and 3 ft SSW/SW swells and 14-18 second periods. Glassy conditions on the Saturday morning, with a calm NE wind, and near-glassy on Sunday morning with a NNE breeze. These are good, clean, fun-size waves.

The very end of the outlook, around July 21st-23rd, has small, clean mornings with 3 ft to 3 ft SW swell and glassy to clean conditions. It’s not the big stuff, but it’s rideable and uncrowded-feeling. This far out, it’s promising but less certain.

Because Zicatela is exposed and fairly consistent, when the swell drops out, it can feel slow. But with the number of clean mornings we’ve got, this is a solid run. Crowds are possible here, so get out early for the best of it.

-Rusty

Read more