Ollie's Point • Statistics for January

January: The Trades Take the Wheel

January is peak Papagayo trade-wind season. The wind rose shows a staggering 68.6 percent of winds blowing from the NE, with another 25.3 percent from ENE, and a solid chunk of those registering 20-40kph. That means the ocean is often lumpy and the wind is only ideal for surfing about 24 percent of the time - usually in the early morning or when the trades temporarily back off. The swell rose is dominated by ENE (41%) and NE (35.4%) windswell, with most energy in the 3-6.5ft (1-2m) range, but the average period is just 8.0s, so it is short-period, punchy and often sectiony. The SSW-facing point needs S, SSW or SW swell to really line up, and those directions only account for around 5 percent of the total - mostly smaller 2-3ft (0.5-1m) waves. This is the quintessential low-quality but not necessarily small month. Air temperatures sit around 25.9°C with very little rain (0.12 mm/day) and water temperatures remain warm at 26.6°C, so if you score a morning glass-off with a stray S/SW swell, it is a treat.