Rincon, Puerto Rico Surf Forecast – April 12, 2015

Hitch a ride up north if you want to surf this week.

Rincon will stay small to flat all week with a small surf lesson wave and offshore/sideshore winds. Great week to make sure you’re caught up on work. The north side of the island will have head high and bigger waves just about every day of the work week, but the wind is going to crank. The sunrise session should still offer some semi-clean conditions at the most exposed breaks up there, but as early as 8:00am it may start to chop out and be garbage by 10:00am.

New swell currently forecast for next weekend!

Remember when I said to get your work done during the week? Well we might see some head high and bigger conditions with offshore winds next weekend right here in Rincon. I’ve eye-balling the North Atlantic a lot lately and knew at some point a long period NE swell was in the making. Now the models are finally starting to pick up on it too. It makes sense for this time of year. I hope it works out.

Using Automated Forecast Tools:

Remember that no matter what a computer model tells you, what you see on the beach might be completely different. That's why i go take pictures of the beach every day. These tools help give an idea of what to expect, but weather prediction is not always exact especially the further out you try to forecast. Surf forecasting takes into account the general correlation between past weather data and resulting surf conditions. Another thing to keep in mind is the difference between actual swell height and the face height of the rideable wave it creates. For example. When the waves are forecast to have a 6ft swell at 13 seconds or higher with a NW angle we normally get waves that most people would call double over-head on sets. Swell angle is also important, especially for shorter period swell (9-11 seconds). For example 3ft at 11 seconds from the NW will make a bigger wave than 4ft at 9 seconds from the NE. Normally longer period swell (13+ seconds) will be more powerful and keep the surf size a little better even if the angle isn't a direct hit to Rincon. Generally any swell less than 9 seconds is super weak here in Rincon unless it has a lot of west in it. Also, most NE swell under 12 seconds is weak and mushy. 2ft at 8 seconds is generally small to flat. ENE swell will almost never make it into Rincon unless it was something like 10ft at 18 seconds from the ENE.