Surfing in Nicaragua in July

Conditions in July

Water temp. : 28 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm

July and August are the two months a Nicaraguan surf trip is built around. The south-west groundswell is at its most reliable and its largest, the Tola reefs run day after day, and the lake wind holds them open.

July has one advantage over August: there is usually less rain and more sun in the middle of the wet season, so you get the swell of the season with something closer to dry-season weather. That combination is why it is the busiest month of the year on the Tola coast and why the camps around Popoyo book out first. The water is at 28°C.

Learning in July

This is a spectator month on the reefs. Beginners belong on the beaches at Maderas or Hermosa and nowhere else.

Where a beginner goes in July

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

The best month of the year, and it knows it. Book early, and be ready to share Popoyo with everybody who did the same.

How July 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.