Manzanillo • Surf Spot Statistics

Best Surf Season (May - October)

The southwest-facing beach at Manzanillo is built for Southern Hemisphere groundswell, and the May-to-October window is when the Pacific really lines up. As the South Pacific storm track strengthens, the percentage of swell arriving from SSW and SW jumps from the low single digits of winter to 50-80 percent of the total, with the strongest alignment in May, June, September and October. Average periods sit in the 12-14 second range, producing powerful, long-period groundswell at a very surfable 3-5ft (1-1.5m), along with regular 5-7ft (1.5-2m) pulses. At the same time, the strong dry-season trades weaken and the light offshore-window percentage rises to 27-34 percent in those key months, giving Manzanillo its most consistent run of clean, rippable days. In September and October, Eastern Pacific tropical cyclones can add an extra WSW/W component to the mix.

Fair Surf Season (March - April & November)

These shoulder months are a blend of fading trade-wind windswell and the first or last pulses of southern groundswell. March is still dominated by ENE winds 79 percent of the time, but the average period climbs to 11 seconds and SSW/SW energy starts to creep into the charts. April sees that favorable energy build further as ideal offshore wind reaches 14 percent. November is the reverse: the SSW/SW groundswell is still present, but the trades are rebuilding and the good-wind windows shrink to 17 percent. Surf is possible and often fun, but consistency is the main question.

Low Surf Season (December - February)

The December-to-February dry season is the weakest stretch. A strong subtropical high pumps relentless ENE and NE trades across Central America, with combined totals often exceeding 90 percent of the wind distribution and speeds in the 30-50kph range. Ideal light-offshore conditions drop to just 2-4 percent. The wave spectrum is dominated by short-period NE/ENE windswell -- average wave periods fall to 8-9 seconds -- and the southwest-facing bay does not receive that energy well. Clean, organized surf is rare, and the few worthwhile swells usually come from an out-of-season southern pulse sneaking through the trade-wind noise.