Surfing in Nicaragua in January

Conditions in January

Water temp. : 26 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm

January sits outside the surf season. The Southern Hemisphere groundswell that runs this coast from April to October has stopped, and what reaches the Tola beaches comes from the north Pacific: less frequent, less powerful, two to five feet on the face.

The lake wind does not stop, and that is what saves the month. The trades still funnel across Lake Nicaragua and blow offshore over Popoyo, Colorados and Playgrounds, so small waves stand up rather than crumble. It is the driest, sunniest stretch of the year, which is why January is high season for visitors and low season for swell. The water is at 26°C.

Learning in January

A good month to learn. The beaches around San Juan del Sur, Maderas and Remanso, are working at a size that lets you make mistakes.

Where a beginner goes in January

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

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Good

Thin. If you are travelling for waves the season is April to October, and July and August are the two months that matter.

How January 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.