Surf report for Xivares

How Xivares works

A beach in Carreño that only wakes up with a big north-west swell. It starts working at a size at which other beaches in the area are already closing out, and it needs a long period, an offshore southerly wind and a mid-to-high tide at the same time. When all four come together, which is not often, it is the beach to look at.

Type of wave

Big-swell beach

Workable size

1.5–2.1 m on the San Lorenzo scale; best from 1.7 to 1.9

Swell that works

WNW–NW (295°–336°)

Period

The good range is 12 to 15 s; it still works with 11 s. With 16 s or more it gets worse

Ideal wind

Offshore from SE to SW (140°–240°), up to 18 knots; in light wind any direction will do

Best tide

Mid to high; at low tide it closes out and spring high tides bring backwash

Level

Not a beginner wave: it needs a big swell, and at low tide it is for very experienced surfers

Full surf guide to Xivares →

How to read this report

• Wave height. It is the real height at the beach, not the open-sea swell: each beach has its own factor, because the same swell does not break the same at Xivares as at the beach next door.
• Period. The seconds between two waves. It is the most underrated number: at the same size, a long period brings waves with power and shape, a short one brings them messy.
• Wind. Always in knots. What matters is not the strength but the direction: blowing from land to sea (offshore) it grooms the wave, from sea to land it messes it up.
• Tide. In metres. Every beach has its good window, and outside it the same day can go from surfable to useless in two hours.
• AI score. A score from 0 to 5 given by a model trained on real ratings of sessions at this very beach — not a generic formula. When the day is bad it says so, which is the point.

Frequently asked questions about surfing at Xivares

What is the best tide to surf at Xivares?

Mid to high; at low tide it closes out and spring high tides bring backwash. The report above gives the tide height hour by hour for the next 8 days, so you can line your session up with the good window.

Which wind works at Xivares?

Its offshore wind comes from Offshore from SE to SW (140°–240°), up to 18 knots; in light wind any direction will do. Every beach on this coast faces a different way, so the wind that ruins one can be exactly the good one somewhere else: if it does not help here, check the other beaches.

Is Xivares good for beginners?

Not a beginner wave: it needs a big swell, and at low tide it is for very experienced surfers.

Where does this data come from?

The conditions (waves, wind, period, tide and water temperature) come from Open-Meteo and are updated every hour. The quality score is computed by a model specific to Xivares, trained on ratings of real sessions at this beach.