Surfing Playa Las Tortugas
Punta Custodio Surf Conditions
Playa Las Tortugas offers good surfing for beginners to advanced intermediates. Beginners can surf right out in front of the villas when the waves are small. A short walk down the beach brings you to Punta Custodio where the waves are bigger. The surf is best in the mornings when the wind is most calm, and often a bit offshore which is ideal. For some reason, there is rarely a “glass-off” in the evening, so surfing is a morning activity. Also, it’s best to catch it around mid-tide.
Winter & Spring Surf
Northwest swells dominate the Playa Las Tortugas surf in the winter and early spring months. We see pretty consistent 1-3 ft. NW swells in the water most days, with occasional 4 feet. Water temps range from about 73° to 83° which is nice.
Summer & Fall Surf
South swells appear during the mid-spring and summer months. They tend to be bigger and stronger than the winter surf, in the range of 1-5 feet, with occasional 6-foot or larger swells. There are plenty of opportunities for surfers of all abilities.
Current Phase of the Moon in Playa Las Tortugas
The moon phase is important to the timing of your Playa Las Tortugas surf sessions. The closer we are to a First or Third Quarter, the smaller the swings between high and low tide. The surf can get swampy at high tide and drained out at low. So, the closer that number is to 50% the more time the tide will be at a beneficial height. Note that as the tide drops from a high tide, particularly when near a New or Full moon, the water from the estuary will rush out, impacting your session if you’re surfing Punta Custodio.
Here’s a quick guide to moon phase terminology:
New: You can only see the subtle shadow of the moon.
🌒 Waxing Crescent: A thin crescent of light on the right.
🌓 First Quarter: Half moon as it progresses towards full.
🌔 Waxing Gibbous: Between a half moon and full moon and getting bigger.
🌕 Full: The Moon is completely lit up.
🌖 Waning Gibbous: Between a full moon and a half moon and getting smaller.
🌗 Third Quarter: A half moon but getting smaller.
🌘 Waning Crescent: A thin crescent of light on the left as the moon shrinks.
The local Playa Las Tortugas surf spot is called Punta Custodio.
Punta Custodio is a river mouth, point break situated where the Playa Las Tortugas estuary flows into the ocean. The break is often empty or with 3 or 4 friendly neighbors and locals paddling out. On a Saturday during spring break with a fun swell in the water there may be up to 10 people at most. The water is extremely clean and remains so even after a heavy rain. There simply aren’t many people around here!
Punta Custodio faces west and works on any swell direction and all but very low tides. Swells in winter come predominantly from the north and begin to shift from the south in spring and summer with a bit larger, more consistent swells. The waves don’t get particularly big here because the beach faces west and the swells come in from an angle from the South or North. It’s often 2-3 feet, sometimes 4 feet, and occasionally larger than that.
Long boarders and short boarders both do well here. It’s not a hollow wave and the bottom is sand so, depending on the size, it’s good for intermediate to advanced surfers. The beach breaks further along the beach to the south can also be fun on small days, and get fast and hollow on larger days with a few corners thrown in, sort of like most beach breaks.
In the winter, the water is generally in the low to mid 70s. And because it’s typically sunny and 75 board shorts are fine, perhaps with a 1 mm long sleeve top in the morning. Spring suit if you run cold. By the start of spring the water and air are both consistently in the 80s, so it’s just board shorts.
Riviera Nayarit surfing.
If you’re feeling adventurous, there are plenty of surf spots in the Riviera Nayarit region that surrounds Punta Custodio. A few are listed here but for sure there are many more known and unknown spots to explore.