WaveSearch

Arica (El Gringo)

Arica y Parinacota · Expert Fair
1.5m
5/10
9s 11 km/h
Arica (El Gringo) - surf spot in Arica y Parinacota

About Arica (El Gringo)

Arica, known as El Gringo, is one of the most extreme and famous waves in Chile, located at the far north of the country. It breaks over a very shallow reef at the foot of a cliff, forming fast, hollow and powerful barrels that have made it one of the best barreling waves in South America and a host of international championships. It is not a wave for everyone: the shallow reef and the power of the tube reserve it exclusively for expert surfers with real experience in hollow waves. Despite sitting in the heart of the Atacama desert, the water is cold due to the Humboldt current, so it is surfed with a wetsuit all year. Its best season is summer, between December and March. For the advanced surfer seeking one of the most perfect and challenging barrels on the continent, El Gringo is a legendary stop in northern Chile.

Characteristics

Level
Extreme conditions. Only for very experienced surfers.
· 📅 Summer (December to March) ·
Surface
Type of seabed where the waves break.
·
Direction
Direction the wave breaks as seen from the water.

Sports, Services & Access

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-18.4810°, -70.3330° Arica y Parinacota

Arica (El Gringo) — Arica y Parinacota

Current Conditions

Updated 10/10/2026 18:01

Fair
5/10

Waves

1.5m

11.4s period

Primary Swell

1.3m

8.8s SW

Wind

11 km/h

Gusts 31 km/h WSW

Secondary Swell

0.5m

15.0s SW

Temp.

21.1°C

🦺 Shorty 2mm

UV

1.2

Low

Visibility

10+ km

Good

Sun & Moon

☀️
↑ 07:15
↓ 19:40
🌙
↑ 04:59
↓ 17:51
🌑 New Moon

Spring tides

Tide

Rising

High Tide 21:30 - 1.17m

Today's Tides

Low Tide

03:00

0.24m

High Tide

09:03

1.10m

Low Tide

15:14

0.18m

High Tide

21:30

1.17m

Weekly Summary

Today

1.5m-1.5m

8s

SW SW SW
9 km/h
🌑

Tomorrow

1.5m-1.5m

11s

SSW SSW SW
6 km/h
🌑

Mon

1.5m-1.5m

11s

SW SW SW
6 km/h
🌑

Tue

1.4m-1.5m

11s

SW SW SW
8 km/h
🌘

Wed

1.4m-1.4m

10s

SW SW SW
9 km/h
🌘

Thu

1.4m-1.5m

8s

SW SW SW
9 km/h
🌘

Fri

1.5m-1.8m

13s

SW SW SW
8 km/h
🌘

Sat

1.7m-1.8m

13s

SW SW SW
7 km/h
🌗

Sun

1.5m-1.6m

12s

SW SW SW
6 km/h
🌗

Mon

1.5m-1.6m

12s

SW SW SW
6 km/h
🌗

Tue

0.0m-0.0m

6 km/h
🌗

Day Block Forecast

Tides: 03:00 (0.24m) 09:03 (1.10m) 15:14 (0.18m) 21:30 (1.17m)
Morning Already passed
Midday Already passed
Afternoon Fair

1.5m - 1.5m

214° SW
Period: 9s
15 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 13s
⚡ 89 kJ
At night Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

215° SW
Period: 8s
8 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 15s
⚡ 71 kJ
Tides: 03:45 (0.20m) 09:45 (1.02m) 15:45 (0.17m) 22:10 (1.18m)
Morning Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

225° SW
Period: 13s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 14s
⚡ 187 kJ
Midday Good

1.5m - 1.5m

216° SW
Period: 7s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.0m 16s
⚡ 54 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.5m - 1.5m

216° SW
Period: 11s
15 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.0m 11s
⚡ 134 kJ
At night Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

222° SW
Period: 10s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 12s
⚡ 110 kJ
Tides: 04:30 (0.20m) 10:24 (0.94m) 16:18 (0.22m) 22:48 (1.18m)
Morning Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

222° SW
Period: 11s
3 km/h
⚡ 134 kJ
Midday Fair

1.5m - 1.5m

222° SW
Period: 11s
13 km/h
⚡ 134 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.5m - 1.5m

222° SW
Period: 11s
15 km/h
⚡ 134 kJ
At night Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

221° SW
Period: 11s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 21s
⚡ 134 kJ
Tides: 05:14 (0.24m) 11:10 (0.87m) 16:48 (0.27m) 23:25 (1.16m)
Morning Good

1.4m - 1.4m

224° SW
Period: 11s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 21s
⚡ 116 kJ
Midday Fair

1.4m - 1.4m

224° SW
Period: 11s
15 km/h
⚡ 116 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.4m - 1.4m

224° SW
Period: 11s
15 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 22s
⚡ 116 kJ
At night Epic

1.4m - 1.5m

224° SW
Period: 11s
6 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 19s
⚡ 116 kJ
Tides: 06:04 (0.31m) 11:47 (0.80m) 17:20 (0.35m)
Morning Good

1.4m - 1.4m

224° SW
Period: 10s
6 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 19s
⚡ 96 kJ
Midday Good

1.4m - 1.4m

223° SW
Period: 10s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.3m 19s
⚡ 96 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.4m - 1.4m

222° SW
Period: 10s
18 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.3m 18s
⚡ 96 kJ
At night Good

1.4m - 1.4m

224° SW
Period: 10s
8 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.3m 19s
⚡ 96 kJ
Tides: 00:08 (1.11m) 07:00 (0.36m) 12:30 (0.73m) 18:00 (0.37m)
Morning Good

1.4m - 1.4m

219° SW
Period: 8s
5 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 16s
⚡ 62 kJ
Midday Fair

1.4m - 1.4m

219° SW
Period: 8s
15 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 16s
⚡ 62 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.5m - 1.5m

219° SW
Period: 8s
20 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 15s
⚡ 71 kJ
At night Good

1.4m - 1.5m

221° SW
Period: 8s
6 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 16s
⚡ 62 kJ
Tides: 00:50 (1.05m) 08:00 (0.38m) 13:15 (0.65m) 18:30 (0.42m)
Morning Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

226° SW
Period: 15s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.0m 7s
⚡ 249 kJ
Midday Fair

1.6m - 1.6m

226° SW
Period: 14s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.9m 7s
⚡ 246 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.7m - 1.7m

226° SW
Period: 14s
17 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 6s
⚡ 278 kJ
At night Epic

1.6m - 1.8m

226° SW
Period: 11s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.9m 10s
⚡ 152 kJ
Morning Epic

1.8m - 1.8m

226° SW
Period: 13s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 6s
⚡ 269 kJ
Midday Fair

1.8m - 1.8m

226° SW
Period: 13s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 6s
⚡ 269 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.8m - 1.8m

226° SW
Period: 12s
15 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 6s
⚡ 229 kJ
At night Epic

1.8m - 1.8m

226° SW
Period: 13s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 6s
⚡ 269 kJ
Morning Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

227° SW
Period: 12s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 5s
⚡ 159 kJ
Midday Good

1.5m - 1.5m

228° SW
Period: 12s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 9s
⚡ 159 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.5m - 1.5m

228° SW
Period: 11s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 16s
⚡ 134 kJ
At night Epic

1.6m - 1.6m

227° SW
Period: 12s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 10s
⚡ 181 kJ
Morning Epic

1.5m - 1.5m

229° SW
Period: 12s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 7s
⚡ 159 kJ
Midday Good

1.5m - 1.5m

228° SW
Period: 12s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 5s
⚡ 159 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.6m - 1.6m

228° SW
Period: 12s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 12s
⚡ 181 kJ
At night Epic

1.5m - 1.6m

229° SW
Period: 13s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 12s
⚡ 187 kJ
Morning Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
4 km/h
Midday Flat

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
13 km/h
Afternoon Flat

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
15 km/h
At night Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
1 km/h

Hourly Forecast

Open-Meteo Copernicus
Showing 6 of 240 hours
Hour Waves Period Swell Dir. Wind Secondary Swell Tertiary Swell Current UV Vis. Tide Rating
Sat 10 Oct 18:00 1.5m 11s 1.3m / 9s SW 15 km/h 0.5m / 13s WSW - 0.15 m/s 3.1 10+ km 0.59m
5
Sat 10 Oct 19:00 1.5m 11s 1.3m / 9s SW 11 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - - 1.2 10+ km 0.83m
5
Sat 10 Oct 20:00 1.5m 12s 1.4m / 9s SW 9 km/h 0.5m / 16s SW - - 0.1 10+ km 1.03m
7
Sat 10 Oct 21:00 1.5m 12s 1.4m / 9s SW 8 km/h 0.5m / 17s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 1.15m
7
Sat 10 Oct 22:00 1.5m 12s 1.3m / 8s SW 6 km/h 0.6m / 16s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 1.15m
7
Sat 10 Oct 23:00 1.5m 12s 1.2m / 7s SSW 4 km/h 0.7m / 13s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 1.03m
8

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Surf information for Arica (El Gringo)

Arica (El Gringo) is a Expert level surf spot located in Arica y Parinacota, Chile. The bottom surface is roca. The best season to surf is Summer (December to March).

Today's conditions at Arica (El Gringo)

Right now, Arica (El Gringo) has waves of about 1.5m with a swell period of 9 seconds and WSW (11 km/h) wind. These conditions are updated every 3 hours with the latest forecast.

At Arica (El Gringo) you can practice surf and bodyboard.

Water temperature and wetsuit

The water at Arica (El Gringo) is around 21 °C, so a 2/2 mm spring suit is recommended.

Frequently asked questions about surfing at Arica (El Gringo)

Is the wave at Arica (El Gringo) a left or a right?
The wave at Arica (El Gringo) breaks mainly to the left.
What level do you need to surf at Arica (El Gringo)?
Arica (El Gringo) is a spot recommended for expert surfers.
What is the best season to surf at Arica (El Gringo)?
The best season to surf at Arica (El Gringo) is Summer (December to March).
Where is Arica (El Gringo) located?
Arica (El Gringo) is located in Arica y Parinacota, Peru.
What is the water temperature at Arica (El Gringo)?
The water is around 21 °C, so a 2/2 mm spring suit is recommended.

Sports, services & how to get there

Sports

surf bodyboard

Condition Scoring

Rating Algorithm 1-10

Each forecast hour receives a score from 1 to 10, calculated by adding points for different factors:

Wave Height (0-4 pts)

< 0.5m = 0 pts | 0.5-1.0m = 1 pt | 1.0-1.5m = 2 pts | 1.5-2.5m = 3 pts | > 2.5m = 4 pts

Dominant Period (-1 to 3 pts)

Uses the dominant/peak period (wave_period). < 8s = -1 pt (wind swell, messy) | 8-10s = 0 pts | 10-12s = 1 pt | 12-16s = 2 pts | > 16s = 3 pts

Wind (-2 to +2 pts)

Glassy (< 5 km/h): +2. Light wind (5-10 km/h): +1. Moderate wind (10-20 km/h): offshore +1, onshore -1. Strong wind (> 20 km/h): onshore -2, offshore -1. Wind data covers the full 15-day forecast window.

Secondary Swell (-1 to +1 pt)

If a secondary swell with height ≥ 0.3m and long period (≥ 10s) exists, +1 point is added. If the period is short (< 10s) and direction differs > 45° from the primary swell, -1 point penalty for crossed seas. If directions are similar (≤ 45°), no penalty is applied.

Rating by score:

Flat (1) Poor (2-3) Fair (4-5) Good (6-7) Epic (8-10)
View full methodology
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