Ojo: Fijase en las borrascas que vienen muy baja por El Atlantico o ellas muy profundo del norte. El surf report desde Tonel en Portugal es muy informativo para mostranos las borrascas pero Portugal danos mucha sombra. El webcam Playa de le Lances dice mucho porque podemos verlo cada diez segundos. Cuando veo olas de 0,5m a Tarifa, creo que El Palmar llegó a 1,5m. El viento Levante es un amigo y enemigo ambos.

Here on the Costa de La Luz Atlantic coast we can receive powerful waves which break close to the shore, especially out of summer. Beaches are clean and facilities are good usually including lifeguards, beach cafes & showers in summer but during those times surfing restrictions are put in place on lifeguarded beaches such as Conil & La Barrosa.

Wavecheck: Check the swells coming, make sure they are tracking low in the Atlantic, or very profound. Portugal shadows a lot of the swell away from us. Apart from my pics & video, watch the swell indicator of Tonel (it picks up more than here) on the the far west point of the Portuguese Algarve, also the Tarifa webcam at Playa de los Lances. If you can see any surf at Tarifa then the reliable spots such as El Palmar will be at least twice as big. The strong levante (offshore) wind will clean up any surf but can hold off the low pressures as well. You want to know how reliable the surf has been recently? well check my pic archive.

Upside: Powerful swells are more consistent in winter with dominant offshore winds. Smaller depressions (than those crossing the UK in winter) still create good waves because of the small continental shelf. The weather year round is mostly sunny, the sea temp mild and relatively uncrowded waves (you rarely see surfers on early morning sessions!) Surfing is still a relatively new sport here but there are growing numbers in the water at the most obvious spots. Seek solitude and yee shall find!

Downside: THIS IS NOT A SURFING DESTINATION FOR SUMMER. In the 3 hottest months of summer (it is too hot!) only the strongest depressions will feed swell past the Azores High, so you are left with a bit of wind chop or swell no more than 0.3m at best, but hey, at least you are surfing in boardshorts! There is definately much less surf here in summer than Portugal, Northern Spain, France, North Cornwall or Devon. If you are lucky enough to score any summer surf, no matter how small, it will be crowded. Your alternative to find waves is a 4hr drive to the west coast of Portugal or ferry to Morocco. The 'season' starts again in late September/October. If the swell does get big there are only a few options. Most of the usual spots will suffer from very strong rips in these conditions because of the long expanses of uninterrupted beaches.

Invierno/Winter
En realidad tenemos una clima buena y invierno no hace frio.
The climate is mild, pleasant and sunny with a minimum day temp of 14c. Nightime can feel cold especially in non-heated villas. Rain on occasion can be torrential. Drainage systems in rural areas are very poor so can flood. In these conditions it usually brings an abundance of flies & mosquitos newly born.  In the winter it rains very often. Temperatures drop drastically at night, although some days can surprise you with spectacular sunshine and great temperatures. At night, the cold due to the high level of humidity can be very intense and penetrating. Even though the actual temperature is not that low

Levante wind
The south-easterly Levante is a warm wind that blows day and night. It usually takes one windy day to pick up and blow steadily. It tends to last for some days and ends abruptly. The Levante winds are slightly offshore and therefore bring with them a pretty flat and choppy sea. On very strong Levante days (8 Beauforts or more) windsurfers head off for Caños de Meca.

Poniente wind
These blow from the Atlantic and form waves, mostly during the winter. On hot and sunny days the thermal effect of the coast makes the Poniente, mainly in the bay of Valdevaqueros, stronger. It blows strongest between approx. 15:00 to 18:00 giving rise to colder temperatures. It also stops very suddenly.

Sí tiene un piel inglés y blanco (como yo) se necesita bronceador 15+ en el mar. The sun is extremely strong here and I think you need F15 (or higher) suncream most of the year even in winter (well, if you are white skinned from the UK).

Here's some facts & figures about the yearly climate & waves to expect.

	Enero	Febrero	Marzo	Abril	Mayo	Junio	Julio	Agosto	Septiembre	Octubre	Noviembre		Diciembre
Aqua Sea Temp	14	14	15	15	17	18	22	22	20	20	18		16
Olas(m) Waves	1-1.5	1-1.5	1	0.5	<0.5	<0.3	0	0	<0.3	0.5	0.5-1		1
Traje wetsuit
Tiempo dia Day temp ºC	15	16	18	21	23	27	29	30	27	23	19		16
Tiempo noche Night temp ºC	8	9	11	12	14	18	20	20	19	16	12		9
Lluvia Rainfall (mm)	71	56	79	43	30	5	0	2.5	25	71	79		68

Aqui tiene estadisticas para Chiclana en 2005

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