Zippers-Costa Azul Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it for Zippers-Costa Azul (Costa Azul). The water is absolutely cooking right now, sitting at 85°, which is a massive 7° warmer than usual for this time of year – that’s very unusual and feels more like a tropical bath than a surf zone.

The outlook is a slow burn for the first week. We’ve got a long period, 16-second groundswell arriving on Wednesday, July 8th, pushing waist-to-chest high waves at 5 ft from the SSW. The combined energy is strong (1104), but the wind is a cross-on, so it’s going to be a little bumpy and ropy. This is the best option in the first few days.

Thursday through the weekend stays small, dropping to 4 ft to 4 ft with that same clean SSW direction. The winds are a mixed bag of cross and cross-off, keeping things mostly clean for the afternoon sessions on Saturday and Sunday, but the wave energy drops off into the moderate zone (608-709). It’s rideable, but nothing to get fired up about.

By Monday and Tuesday (July 14th), the swell bottoms out. We’re looking at tiny 2 ft to 2 ft waves with a very long 18-second period on Tuesday. That long period might make them a bit fat and straight at this beach-and-reef setup, and the combined energy is weak (477-533). Honestly, the next few days are a quiet stretch with no real standouts.

A solid pulse shows up on Thursday, July 16th. The afternoon session sees a jump to 5 ft from the SSE (12 seconds), with strong energy (1254). The wind is a cross-shore, giving us clean-ish conditions. That’s a decent window, but the real story is the weekend after.

Friday, July 17th, brings a stormy mess. A 8 ft S swell hits with a 19-28 mph cross-on wind, and the combined energy goes through the roof (2023-3070). That’s a lot of power, but it’s going to be a lumpy, blown-out kite-surfing scene, not a paddle-surfing one. The quality is poor.

For the true experts, the standout window opens on Saturday, July 18th. We see a 10 ft SSW swell early morning, dropping to 8 ft in the afternoon. The wind eases off to a light cross-on, which is a major positive. The combined energy is massive (2586-2234). This is big, powerful, and only for experienced surfers.

Sunday, July 19th, is the pick of the period. The swell drops to a still solid 5 ft, but the wind is a light 3 mph cross-on in the morning, going glassy and clean. The afternoon turns it on with a 4 ft clean wave from a very long 17-second SW swell, combined energy of 1374, and a cross-off wind. That’s the session for a high-performance board.

Unfortunately, the following week (July 20-23) gets messy again. The swell is inconsistent and the winds are mostly cross or cross-on. By Wednesday, July 22nd, we’re looking at a massive 12 ft SSW swell, but the wind is a messy 16 mph cross. That’s raw, ugly power, and the combined energy peaks at 4507. Only for the kamikaze crew.

So, lock it in: Sunday afternoon, July 19th, is the sneaky standout. The best size and power for experienced surfers is Saturday, July 18th.

Rusty.

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