Pacifico • Surf Spot Statistics

Best Surf Season (August - October)

Late summer through early fall is when Pacifico truly comes alive. The Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) locks in southwesterly to westerly flow across the Philippines, and the wind data reflects this in a dramatic spike in favorable offshore winds-ideal wind time peaks at 31% in August, 34% in September, and 30% in October. This is also the season when the western-quadrant swell window (SW, WSW, W, WNW) makes its strongest showing in the wave rose, despite the average heights still sitting in the fun-size range. More importantly, wave periods begin to stretch out, reaching 10.2s by October, which signals longer-period, more organized energy. When tropical cyclones spin up in the Philippine Sea, they inject powerful pulses of westerly swell into this east-facing coast, and with the wind blowing offshore from the WSW/W quadrant, Pacifico offers its cleanest, most rideable waves of the year.

Fair Surf Season (May - July)

As the Northeast Monsoon relaxes in late spring, a transition zone sets in. From May through July, the number of ideal wind days climbs steadily from 12% to 25%, and the wind rose begins to show an increasing percentage of WSW and W flow. However, average swell heights are small-0.7m to 0.8m-and periods hover around a mediocre 8.4 to 9.1s. This is a groveling window; there are fun, clean little days for the log or a fish, but high-performance surfing will leave you wanting more. Occasional tropical cyclone formation to the east can fire up better west-southwest swells during this period, offering a taste of what August will bring.

Low Surf Season (November - April)

The Northeast Monsoon (Amihan) takes control from November through April, and Pacifico pays the price. Big surf rolls in-average heights often exceed 1.3m, reaching 1.7m in January-but the energy arrives predominantly from the NE and ENE, which is outside Pacifico's preferred western-quadrant swell window. Worse, the wind shifts to the NE/E/ENE quadrant, which is onshore and cross-shore for the break. Ideal wind percentages plummet to just 1-4% throughout much of this period, dropping to a mere 1% in February and March. The result is a sea of stormy, wind-blown waves that rarely clean up-lots of size, plenty of power, but almost no quality. Unless a rogue typhoon or a rare NW swell aligns, these winter months are mostly a write-off at Pacifico.