Río Chico surf forecast
Puerto López · Manabi · Ecuador
Today at Río Chico: waves 0.6–1 m, waist to chest around 08:00 (9 s swell), cross-shore wind. Fair for intermediate surfers, fair for beginners, poor–fair for advanced. Updated 21 Oct, 15:51 UTC.
Río Chico surf forecast, next 7 days
The best daylight hour of each day, rated for each level. No day rates Good for intermediate surfers this week.
| Day | Best | Waves | Wind | Beg. | Int. | Adv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 08:00 | 0.6–1 m | cross-shore | Fair | Fair | Poor–Fair |
| Thu 22 | 07:00 | 0.7–1.1 m | cross-onshore | Fair | Fair | Poor–Fair |
| Fri 23 | 07:00 | 0.6–1 m | cross-offshore | Fair | Poor–Fair | Poor |
| Sat 24 | 09:00 | 0.6–0.8 m | onshore | Poor–Fair | Poor–Fair | Poor |
| Sun 25 | 07:00 | 0.5–0.7 m | offshore | Poor–Fair | Poor | Poor |
| Mon 26 | 07:00 | 0.4–0.6 m | offshore | Poor | Poor | Poor |
| Tue 27 | 07:00 | 0.3–0.5 m | offshore | Poor | Poor | Poor |
Model forecast updated 21 Oct, 15:51 UTC. Hour by hour with swell direction, tide and webcams: open the live forecast.
Long lefts wrap a rock shelf into the beach of the Piqueros Patas Azules hotel at Río Chico, south of Puerto López. You pay a small fee at the hotel for parking and showers, which keeps the lineup quiet. SW swells line it up best, an east wind is offshore and the lower half of the tide is cleanest; December to April brings glassy mornings. Paddle hard past the rocks on the way out.
- Break
- point break, lefts; faces WNW
- Level
- intermediate
- Best swell
- SW, W, NW
- Best wind
- E, NE (offshore)
- Best tide
- low to mid tide
- Season
- Year-round; glassy mornings December-April
- Typical size
- 1-2.5 m
- Crowd
- low
- Hazards
- rock shelf at the take-off and urchins; rip along the point
Nearby spots
- Viejamar, Las Tunas
- Ayampe
- Puerto Cayo
- San Mateo, Manta
- El Murciélago, Manta
- Canoa
Questions
Is Río Chico good for beginners?
It is best for intermediate surfers (rock shelf at the take-off and urchins; rip along the point). Beginners nearby can try Puerto Cayo, Puerto Cayo.
What swell, wind and tide work best at Río Chico?
SW, W, NW swell, E, NE wind (offshore), at low to mid tide. Typical size 1-2.5 m.
Live swell, wind, tide, a 14-day outlook, satellite pictures and webcams for Río Chico are in the Surf Spoting app.