Need a Summer Surf Trip? Here Are June’s Best Bets

21 hours ago | Updated 17 hours ago

June is a month of opportunity. Well, you could say any month has its own opportunities, but in June there are clear global climate signals on where we typically see good surf. The Southern Hemisphere shifts into meteorological winter while the Northern Hemisphere slides into summer. The vast majority of stronger storms and swells occur below the equator during this time of year. While there is the possibility of scoring surf at your home break, chances are there is better surf to be found elsewhere. 

Tahiti

Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Among tropical Pacific Islands, Fiji has definitely received the most attention in surf world of late but Tahiti hasn’t been a slouch. After a dismal 2017, Tahiti returned to life last month including the first tow swell in a couple years. While Fiji benefited from a vigorous storm track under Australia and the Tasman Sea last month, this pattern has shifted further east into the western half of the South Pacific, a great sign for Tahiti.

We are looking at a solid run of SSW swell to kick off the month in Tahiti. After that, we should see an even stronger storm system swing through the west-central South Pacific for more solid swell into the first full week of June. This leads us to believe the first half of the month is looking pretty good for Tahiti. Also worth noting, southern exposures of Hawaii will see a payoff with this pattern as well, although a smaller fraction of size makes it to Hawaii compared to what Tahiti sees. 

Watch out for the second half of the month as there is at least some chance for it to be a little slower than during the first few weeks of June. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, as this should offer more manageable sized surf for the average Joe that’s not looking for double overhead Teahupoo. If you’re looking to head to this tropical paradise, our South Tahiti human-forecast (updated three times a week), spot forecasts, and proprietary hi-res wind model will help you score the best conditions at the best spots.

South Pacific storm delivers to both Tahiti and Mexico in early June (after it already delivered to Fiji). If look in the top right, you can also see the trade swell in the Caribbean Sea headed for Central America.

Mainland Mexico

Mainland Mex might be associated with heavy beachie barrels but there is a lot of variety along thousands of miles of coastline. Andrew Jacobson, shot by Jeremiah Klein.

Heading into the Southern Hemisphere’s meteorological winter (June-July-August), we see storm and swell activity in the South Pacific reach a yearly maximum. Mexico’s has thousands of miles of Pacific coastline that receives these swells like a catcher’s mitt. Statistically speaking, appreciable swells of 4’ @ 13 seconds or greater are seen 83% of days in June. This makes June the second most consistent month here, just behind May.

Also, the diversity of spots throughout Mainland Mex rivals that of anywhere in the world. This is perhaps best exemplified by the contrast of the long, mellow points near Lazaro Cardenas, which attract various longboard contests, to Puerto Escondido, an ex-Big Wave Tour venue that attracts crazy surfers to the glorified closeout for every big swell.

The current forecast lines up a few fun-sized, overlapping swells for the start of the month with growing potential for stronger surf deeper in the month. Check our Puerto Escondido Human Forecast (and two HD cams) or Huatulco Area Human Forecast to see what is on the way. Add in warm water, cheap accommodations, authentic Mexican cuisine, and unlimited cervezas and you’ve got yourself all the ingredients for a great surf trip. 

A couple things to watch for: East Pacific tropical systems can be a double-edged sword. On average we see around two systems develop in the month of June. These can send fun to sometimes solid shots of swell to Mainland Mex but can also negatively impact local winds and conditions. In fact, the National Hurricane Center is monitoring an area offshore of the Acapulco area for tropical development during the first full week of the month. 

Also, the northern part of Mainland Mex needs some west in the swell to get good, as the steeper-angled south swells generally miss out on breaks in Mazatlan and especially the Riviera Nayarit region. 

Caribbean Central America

There are waves on both sides of Central America — and they are there more often than you realize. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

Wait, the Caribbean side of Central America is a Best Bet in June? Sure, the nearby Pacific side is no doubt a good bet for many of the same reasons as Mainland Mexico.  But we wanted to pick a zone most people wouldn’t initially think of as a surf travel destination this month, a sleeper pick if you will. The east coast of Central America actually fits this well once we did some digging into the data.

Although breaks in this zone are not exposed to any major ocean basin, the Caribbean Sea has a good deal of real estate. Ultra-consistent tradewinds blow across the Caribbean towards Central America, but typically lay down along the coast. This produces dependable, shorter-period E/ENE trade swell with favorable local conditions (at least during most mornings – our hi-res winds model breaks down the hourly details). This consistency really stands out on both our Panama Caribbean and Costa Rica Caribbean 17-day forecasts. Basically, as long as the tradewinds blow, there will be fun-size surf in the water. 

These tradewinds are generally strongest when robust high pressure dominates the central Atlantic. This high tends to be strongest in the winter months which is why we see surf heights at a yearly peak from December through February. However, Atlantic high pressure is often strong in the summer months as well. This is why we see a second peak in surf heights this time of year — some of the locals call this their “mini-season”. 

This June should see surf heights above what we typically see in an average June. We have seen a signal when leaving a La Nina winter, Atlantic high pressure tends to be stronger than normal. Various climate models agree, especially over the second half of the month. Thus, we are expecting enhanced tradewinds and above average trade swell through June, especially over the back-half of the month.

Even during slower periods, there are beachbreaks throughout the region that produce fun, peaky surf on smaller days. Or, another option is to make the jump across to the Pacific side for more variety. When the surf gets bigger (and trust us, it does), there are several reef breaks and points that get good.