Caballeros • Surf Spot Statistics

Best Surf Season (May - September)

Caballeros is a classic west-southwest facing Peruvian corner, and it feels the full force of the Southern Ocean during the austral winter. From May through September the South Pacific storm track becomes more active, pushing average swell heights up to 1.9m (6ft) and maintaining 13-second periods. The swell window is overwhelmingly SSW and SW, with a secondary S swell component from June through August. This produces a steady diet of 1.5-2.5m (5-8ft) waves - statistically, around 76-78% of all observations fall in that juicy range. The catch is the wind. Southerly and southwesterly breezes dominate over 80% of the time, and clean offshore NE/ENE/E flow is rare (2-4% ideal wind). Your best bet is dawn patrol, when the thermal gradient is weakest and the surface is still glassy. If you get a morning with light E/NE wind and a long-period SSW swell, Caballeros is firing.

Fair Surf Season (March - April and October - November)

These shoulder months combine solid size with a slightly more forgiving wind regime. March and April see average swell heights climb from 1.6m to 1.7m (5-5.5ft) as the Southern Ocean stirs, while October and November hold onto 1.6-1.8m (5-6ft) of groundswell. The swell direction is even more locked into the SSW sweet spot - April and November have over 91% of the energy from SSW. In March, ideal wind conditions peak at 14%, the highest of the year, making it a great month for clean, rippable waves. The trade-off is that the water has started to cool in autumn and is still cold in spring, hovering around 15-17°C.

Low Surf Season (December - February)

The austral summer is the quietest stretch of the year at Caballeros, but 'low' is relative. Average swell heights ease to 1.4-1.5m (4.5-5ft), and the percentage of waves above 1.5m drops to 38-46%. Periods remain long, between 12.8 and 13.1 seconds, so the waves have more push than the raw height suggests. December through February offers the warmest water and air temperatures - up to 19.8°C in February - and the same reliable SSW/SW groundswell train. It is a great time for a step-down board and for working on positioning when the winter juice is not needed.