Forecast: Surf City El Salvador Pro
Surf City El Salvador Pro Jun 12th - 20th
After large but lumpy conditions at Margaret River, the Wozzle fell into a hole at Grajagan. Great waves bookended the waiting period, yet the comp itself was dire for both swell and wind - with warmer than normal sea surface temperatures playing havoc with the trades.
Now they're pitching tent one ocean basin to the east, finding themselves in the bath-warm waters of El Salvador and a rocky righthand point known as Punta Roca - it's Spanish for Rocky Point.
Punta Roca is a sand over rock setup that sits at the northern end of a 100km long beach. The shape of the wave can shift owing to the underlying sand, however it's generally known as a wave that can handle size.
That's fortunate, because a great run of swell is due through the first week of the waiting period.
With the swell taken care of, the next question is the wind: Punta Roca is very exposed, so will it play nice?
The event kicks off on Sunday the 12th (just after midnight Sunday our time) and there'll already be an inconsistent mid-period S/SW swell in the water, easing from Saturday afternoon. This was generated by a tight, distant low southeast of Tahiti on the weekend - see image below.
Though easing, there should be enough swell to get competition underway, with variable tending locally offshore winds grooming the surface in the morning. Easing sets from an inconsistent 3-4ft are due, with bumpy conditions developing into the afternoon with a south-east sea breeze.
The surf will ease further into Monday, and with a larger, better swell to come this will likely be a lay day.
This next swell is currently being generated by a healthy polar frontal system projecting far north into the South Pacific Ocean while deepening into a low pressure system.
A great fetch of S/SW gales will be produced and the low will meander slowly east while continuing to generate a healthy fetch, producing a prolonged southerly groundswell - see image below.
The first pulse of inconsistent southerly groundswell should arrive late in the day of Tuesday the 14th, though Wednesday is when it fills in with sets in the 4-6ft range, holding at the same size till Thursday morning before slowly easing, down further from 3-5ft on Friday the 17th - three days from the end of the waiting period.
In all, it will provide three days of waves, much of which will be in the double-overhead range.
Now, the wind.
Locally, the wind looks a bit iffy for this run of swell as a surface trough deepens in the region, possibly forming into a low pressure system. The models are moving around a little regarding the positioning of this low but any form of easterly wind is devilish - i.e blowing into the point - and not ideal at all. We'll have to keep a close eye on this aspect of the forecast as it's liable to move around a bit.
Whatever happens, it's likely the Woz will have to utilise the above swell as later in the period things slow down again - a smaller mid-period S/SW swell is all that's on offer.
We'll continue to keep an eye on that deepening trough and low linked to the local winds over the coming days and hopefully it stays at arms length to El Salvador.
Comments
South swell with east wind?
If the comp gets postponed it might be wise for contestants to don a pair of sandshoes and go beachcombing.
Hey swellnet, what's with the censorship around the mention of surfcams lately? I read in the papers that you have been removing any comments on forums that express negative opinions about your cams. - Insert argument about free speech that I can' be bothered typing -, but seriously, why? As paying subscribers we should be able to discuss which aspects of your service we like and dislike. Prohibiting this is detrimental to both your reputation and your ability gather the feedback needed to continue to improve your offering. Beware the Streisand effect
Hey JBAY totally agree, My local cam is *redacted* and its *redacted* A lot of people are saying *redacted* *redacted* a pineapple *redacted* *redacted* til he wimpers *redacted*
Must be true if you read it in the paper.....
I’ve seen it happen in real time regarding negative Wye and Winki cam comments. There 1 min, gone the next
There’s a Winki cam now?! Sick
I don’t know how these blokes get away with it.
Hi. Frequent lurker here...
When looking at the point on google maps there is an area just south of the sports field... what is it? Kinda looks like a tent city or slum or something. Anyone been there or know about it?
Its actually a cemetery where the WSL is gonna suffer a slow 7 day death. Its full of gun totting theives that will rob and steal everything from the WSL. If you know your know Karmas a bitch.
Such a fun wave. Generally goes onshore by 11 most mornings and then a bit of a glass off in the arvos.
Is that the same place the ISA had their games when Italo won wearing jorts?
One of those west coast of the Americas locations that is usually offshore in the morning followed by a mid-morning glass off and afternoon onshore, can turn offshore again just before dark.
Plenty of swell, should be a great event with some state of the art high-performance surfing, minus John John Florence, unfortunately.
What direction is the afternoon seabreeze?
Probably out of the east so a light devil wind maybe good for airs. I spent nearly a month there.
Probably out of the east so a light devil wind maybe good for airs. I spent nearly a month there.
S to SE - usually a light onshore, wave can still have good shape, but not as clean as the morning offshore.
It's walking out to the Point past the cemetery that used to be a trial - drug addicts were living there and hassling and robbing anyone who walked by, hopefully they have been cleaned out.
I was in La Libertad in 1984, at the height of the war - no one was surfing. El Caballo (Bob Rotherham) came out a few times, I mostly surfed alone.
I was stoked when on the weekend, a couple of local surfers showed up from San Salvador, someone else in the water! Definitely a few sharks around, plenty of debris and trash floating, from the river.
Took a taxi to Zunzal, left my stuff at the only open restaurant with a promise to return for lunch. Went out and surfed super fun peaks, no one out the whole time.
When I returned to the restaurant, I was approached by at least six women, Auntie-types, asking if I needed a place to stay - I told them I didn't and they explained they used to have surfers, many from Texas or California, but now there were no visitors because of the war and they had no income. It was sad, they were obviously struggling.
Was taking a leak under the restaurant in La Libertad at night, when I felt something poke me in the back. I turned around and it was a security guard with a shotgun, pointing at me and ready to pull the trigger. He said later he thought I might be planting a bomb under the restaurant!
Le Libertad never saw any fighting during the war, 1979 to 1992, but it was still regarded as dangerous.
After going there and seeing how poor people lived, as in whole neighbourhoods of sticks and plastic shelters, no water, stinking of sewage and trash, while the few rich people drove by in their aircon American cars with the windows rolled up tight, it was shocking - easy to see why people would rather pick up a gun and fight than live in utter destitution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_Civil_War
On second thoughts it looks like a cemetery
It is. The people that lurk there took my thongs. Then a little kid paddled out and asked for my fins. Creepy times.
Ha...kid tried to get my fins off me too!
Did you score there bone?
In the surf of course, not at the cemetery…
There about a 1 1/2 weeks in during 2011 and a few days at El Sunzal, which was fun then spent the rest a 5min bus ride East of above screenshot. Got it pretty good. Never proper offshore or super hollow, consistently in 3-4ft range. Just great shape running down the rocks. Most of the time solo with a few others.
Awesome, peaky, chunky beachies said 5 mins East too. Completely solo there.
Sounds good
The definition of asking in Central America can be a little gray from memory……I’m asking for your thongs instead of causing you serious harm……
lol
Whats the go with the crew on Beachgrit having a crack at the moment? Maybe explain you're take boys?
A big pisstake.
No shark attacks and Ashton Goggans has, I don't know, teleported somewhere else.
So we're their content farm.
I very much enjoyed this:
"Almost every social media post about it has been incorrect, most particularly the administrator of the Respect Bells Beach FB page who’s been citing clauses in legislation that simply don’t exist."
I had a quick look and read - I had no idea what was being said. Maybe that’s my old age….don’t understand these young kids anymore
Same here haha
Great wave, sketchy walk past cemetery (especially on dark, I used to paddle/catch short waves all the way back to La Paz) because you never know who you might run into. eg. gang bangers, tweakers etc
Chas Smith has an amazing talent for stringing a lot of words together in well constructed sentences that pretty much convey nothing. Read one of his books and you’ll understand.
He comes from a family of preachers.............
Read his books and got pissed off with myself for wasting time on Them. Who the fuck puts a photo of themselves on their own book. I reckon he would fit in at Fox orSky Views
Chas is hilarious, clever, and braver than most.
But not everyone's cup of tea.
Looks like a sick set up. How's the rock-off on the paddle out? Looks like Lennox in the images online.
Caroline’s back. Good luck to her. Hope she’s feeling good.
https://stabmag.com/features/caroline-marks-wouldnt-change-a-thing/
So what was wrong with her, what’s the big secret ?
?
Can only imagine it’s personal, MH or burnout in nature, otherwise it would be said.
Gotta be vax side effect
Global warming is a Vax side effect too..
No one's heard the Italo dalliance story?
Looks like there’s gonna be a lot of windswell contamination in the mix from what I’m seeing. Especially when the real groundswell arrives.
The time zone for the El Salvador comp is not convenient to my lifestyle.
Can’t they do it under lights or something?
Warm water righthand point. Should be right up my alley, yet somehow I'm finding it hard to get excited about this comp.
Here's to it exceeding expectations!
I heard all the stories but didn't have problems passing by the cemetery, only scored Punta Roca small, but it was super fun with a few barrels (1 other guy out). I never surfed the cemetery section, but I did get restaurants fun, also with one other bloke who came with two big bouncers because he was chasing down some MS13 intel. Some fun reefs up the coast too.
Kelly and Tyler out
Where’d ya hear Slater was out?
Inertia posted it mate, and shared a WSL FB announcement. They confirmed a Barbadian fella Josh Burke got the call up and Sally Fitz to replace Tyler. The event round one draw confirms this.
Sally Shaka in
Richie Porta is pretty informative about what it's going to take to get a score. The judges will be critically analysing it too. He wants a burger with the lot. Barrel, air, couple of full rail gouges, 360, hang 5 and better chuck in a headstand if you want a 10
Spanksters. As you possibly recall Leroy has an interesting relationship with the third person. Prerferred pronouns are he, him, and his. This is personified in ink, shred and general attitudes towards sharing waves.
Now despite Leroys self indulgent overly self aware narcissistic ramblings he likes to consider himself geographically educated.
Bringing him presently to his next point.....
Just where in the fuck is El Salvador???
Which country is named after The Saviour ?
Which Brazilian will meet and thank said Saviour?
Can Jack Robinson go three from three?
donde estan es mi traje de agua?
Buddha v. The Big Guy. Sanskrit v. Scripture. Padmasana v. Prayer. Mindfulness and meditation versus Mathew and Mark. Rigveda v. Revelation.
Three in a row for wave wizard Pagan Jack portends a Storm of Doubting Thomases. The pious prophets of progressive wave riding witnessed embracing Heathenistic rituals on the sands of La Libertad.
Evangelical Surfing Proselytising League takes riches of townsfolk, takes down tent, takes its preachers and its followers. Resolutely continues its mission to convert the whole entire world.
So cool. So much narrative and so many storylines.
Leroy and GaryG would be a good pairing.
Might be a case of trauma from repeat court appearances.
I, Leroy / Gary do solemnly swear ... etc
No JJF, no Slater.
Sally Fitz in.
It’d be good to see Ewing go all the way at a rippable right point. Too many opportunities to see him shred is not enough!
So looking at a Tuesday night / Wednesday morning start?
I watched the dawn patrol which came out later today.
They had some drone footage.
Looked like there was a bunch materials
Next to the contest site.
Maybe they are still building the judging tower?
It got to be a tie for gnarliest /sketchiest place to hold a contest. Most danger presiding outside the water.
Homicide capital of the world.
Turpel should fit right in.
He’s been murdering surf vocabulary for years.
Wonder if that is why Kelly sat it out?
Doubt he will show in Brazil now he is no/little chance to make Top 5.
I had been expecting myself to ask whether Kelly would sit offshore on his yacht/boat again with regards to possible onshore party scene.
youtube has a vid on him a couple days ago at desert point...i would say hes not feelin it and would rather enjoy bali.....
Did Slats take a detour to Fiji?
Looks like Cloudbreak is eight foot and glassy on Wednesday, shame he's injured, he'll miss it.
Gonna be a lot larger than that, more like 2x the size.
A fair bit of investment going into this by the looks. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Wsl having a comp in a country essentially run by a dictator , sorta disgusting i reckon.
While winds will still be onshore for the start of today (early tomorrow morning call) and conditions choppy, the low bringing the devil winds is moving west and this should see winds improving slowing, swinging SE then S'ly by dark.
The following morning looks clean and offshore (early our Friday morning) with afternoon sea breezes and that easing swell.
They'll run today but possibly be on hold early?
I think going to El Salvador given the current state of the country can be spun as giving hope or being ignorant. Its pretty dodgy there, I hope the gangs don't kill the pro surfers. Maybe a large portion of the nations army will be taken away from their real responsibilities to protect the entitled surf elite?
Maybe Elo is scripting up a bit of Fairly Arrow action for a lucky member of the CT to keep viewers interested?