Surfing in Nicaragua in August

Conditions in August

Water temp. : 29 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm

August is the other month of the pair. The swell is the same south-west groundswell running at the same size, and the lake wind is still doing the work that makes this coast what it is. There is nothing to choose between the two months on the water.

The difference is on land. August brings more rain than July and the same crowd, so the trip is wetter for the same waves. It is also the month everything is booked, from the camps at Popoyo to the beaches at San Juan del Sur. If you can pick between July and August, pick on the weather, because the surf will not tell you apart. The water is at 29°C.

Learning in August

Not on the reefs. The beaches still work and a school will still take you, but this is the far end of what the country produces.

Where a beginner goes in August

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Excellent

Peak swell, peak rain, peak crowd. The waves are as good as July and everything around them is harder work.

How August compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.