San Pancho • Statistics for April

April: Long-Period SW/WSW Swell, Directionally Frustrating

April is a transition month. The average swell height remains 1.0m (3ft), and the average period actually climbs to 14.0s, the longest of the year. But the swell direction shifts hard to WSW (47.9%) and SW (22.0%), while W drops to 26.2% and WNW to 3.4%. For a beach facing WNW, the loss of direct W-WNW energy means many of those long-period waves are arriving on an off-angle, producing smaller, weaker lines or wrapping inconsistently around the bay. Only about 30% of the wave energy is from the favourable W/WNW/NW/NNW quadrant. The wind story is even harsher: ideal offshore wind conditions occur a mere 1% of the time, with NNW (41.5%), NW (26.7%) and WNW (17.0%) piling up onshore wind. Water temps warm to 25.1°C, air averages 24.5°C, and rainfall is virtually absent at 0.06 mm/day. In short, April is beautiful and warm, but surfers should lower expectations unless a rare W groundswell coincides with a morning offshore.