Costa Azul • Statistics for January

January: A Glimmer of East Energy in the Winter Mix

January sees the start of the calendar year with a healthy dose of North Pacific and Gulf-driven storm energy. The average swell height checks in at 0.8m (2.5ft) with a powerful average period of 11.9s. Unfortunately, the direction is still heavily biased toward the S and SSW, together accounting for over 67% of the wave spectrum. For the east-facing Costa Azul break, that means the large majority of the energy is wasted on closeouts and unruly shoulders. However, January is the second-best month of the year for properly angled waves: ENE, E, ESE and SE swells sum up to roughly 6% of the total, and when these pulses arrive, the NW and WNW offshore winds - which blow during more than 70% of the month - groom the break into clean, rippable lines. Water temperature sits at a cool 22.3°C, with air temps averaging a mild 21.1°C. If you can pick off the east windows between the southern swell bands, January can deliver the first truly good surf of the year.