Barra de la Cruz Alert Guide

Oaxaca, Mexico · part of the Barra de la Cruz spot guide

Barra de la Cruz is forecast-only — the nearest NOAA stations are deep-ocean tsunami buoys 700 km and more away — so the alert runs on the GFS-Wave model and the height below is an open-ocean reading; on long-period south swell the face runs close to that number. The bank changes from year to year with the Chacalapa bar, so a recent report is worth as much as the model.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Watch the South Pacific south of Rapa Nui and east-south-east of Chile six to seven days out; a low that sends swell past the Galápagos parallel to South America is the classic setup.
2. 2.Want swell from the south to south-south-west, 170–200° best, with 155–235° working; south-west focuses at the top of the point and under-wraps.
3. 3.Period is the tell: 14 seconds and up for the ledge to double up, 16–18 for the days the Search was made of.
4. 4.Score a north-to-north-west morning — dawn is glassy or lightly offshore before the south-west sea breeze builds late morning; in winter the Tehuano is offshore but gusty.
5. 5.Low-to-mid tide is hollowest, mid-to-high friendlier. Read the model swell as open-ocean: 3 to 6 feet is the point at its best, 8 feet and up is maxing.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: N–NW offshore (dawn) — from 300° to 30° (WNW–NNE).

Semidiurnal with springs around 1.2–1.4 m. Works all tides — low-to-mid is hollowest as the wave doubles up off the sand, mid-to-high gives a friendlier shape.

Dial it in