Esterillos • Statistics for January

January: Long-Period Groundswell and Morning Glass

The new year begins with the first serious stretch of dry-season surf at Esterillos. Swell direction is heavily locked in from the SSW, which accounts for 86% of the total wave energy, with another 12.8% from the SW and a trace from due S. Fully 59% of those waves fall in the 1.5-3ft (0.5-1m) range, and another 27% are a more solid 3-5ft (1-1.5m), giving an average height of 3ft (0.9m). Periods average 12.6s, right in the powerful long-period category, so even modest SSW pulses produce clean, organized lines on the sand.

The trade-off is wind. While northwest and north-northwest breezes (NW 7%, NNW 8.1%) remain common enough to groom the surface, the dominant wind directions are actually SW (13.3%), WSW (11.4%) and SSW (9.5%), all onshore at a south-facing beach. Luckily, most of the wind stays in the light 0-10kph range, and ideal surf wind is present 37% of the time. Morning sessions are the play, before the afternoon sea breeze gets going. Air temperatures average 26.1°C, rain is only 1.34mm/day, and the water is a warm 28.5°C.