WaveSearch

Arica (El Gringo)

Arica y Parinacota · Expert Good
1.0m
7/10
7s 5 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 23/08/2026 18:01

Good
7/10

Waves

1.0m

10.3s period

Primary Swell

0.9m

7.1s SSW

Wind

5 km/h

Gusts 23 km/h W

Secondary Swell

0.4m

11.1s SW

Temp.

19.8°C

🦺 Shorty 2mm

UV

0.1

Low

Visibility

10+ km

Good

Sun & Moon

☀️
06:55
18:31
🌙
13:43
02:39
🌖 Waxing Gibbous

Tide

Falling

Low Tide 23:39 - 0.31m

Today's Tides

High Tide

05:40

0.96m

Low Tide

12:50

0.35m

High Tide

17:50

0.57m

Low Tide

23:39

0.31m

Weekly Summary

Today

1.0m-1.0m

7s

SSW SSW SSW
7 km/h
🌖

Tomorrow

0.9m-1.0m

8s

SSW SSW SSW
6 km/h
🌖

Tue

1.0m-1.0m

8s

SSW SSW SSW
5 km/h
🌖

Wed

1.0m-1.0m

8s

SSW SSW SSW
5 km/h
🌖

Thu

1.0m-1.0m

12s

SW SW SW
5 km/h
🌕

Fri

1.1m-2.2m

13s

SW SW SW
5 km/h
🌕

Sat

1.9m-2.2m

11s

SW SW SW
5 km/h
🌕

Sun

1.5m-1.9m

10s

SW SW SW
5 km/h
🌕

Mon

1.5m-1.7m

10s

SW SW SW
5 km/h
🌔

Tue

1.5m-1.7m

9s

SW SW SW
6 km/h
🌔

Wed

0.0m-0.0m

7 km/h
🌔

Day Block Forecast

Tides: 05:40 (0.96m) 12:50 (0.35m) 17:50 (0.57m) 23:39 (0.31m)
Morning Already passed
Midday Already passed
Afternoon Fair

1.0m - 1.0m

211° SSW
Period: 7s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.3m 13s
⚡ 24 kJ
At night Good

1.0m - 1.0m

209° SSW
Period: 7s
6 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 11s
⚡ 24 kJ
Tides: 06:30 (1.01m) 13:30 (0.28m) 18:42 (0.61m)
Morning Good

1.0m - 1.0m

211° SSW
Period: 7s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 12s
⚡ 24 kJ
Midday Fair

0.9m - 0.9m

211° SSW
Period: 10s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 8s
⚡ 40 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.0m - 1.0m

211° SSW
Period: 10s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.3m 12s
⚡ 49 kJ
At night Good

1.0m - 1.0m

211° SSW
Period: 8s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 14s
⚡ 31 kJ
Tides: 00:21 (0.24m) 07:10 (1.10m) 14:04 (0.27m) 19:30 (0.68m)
Morning Good

1.0m - 1.0m

210° SSW
Period: 8s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 13s
⚡ 31 kJ
Midday Fair

1.0m - 1.0m

209° SSW
Period: 8s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 13s
⚡ 31 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.0m - 1.0m

210° SSW
Period: 8s
9 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 15s
⚡ 31 kJ
At night Good

1.0m - 1.0m

210° SSW
Period: 8s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 15s
⚡ 31 kJ
Tides: 00:57 (0.24m) 07:48 (1.18m) 14:30 (0.26m) 20:03 (0.77m)
Morning Good

1.0m - 1.0m

210° SSW
Period: 7s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 14s
⚡ 24 kJ
Midday Good

1.0m - 1.0m

210° SSW
Period: 7s
10 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 13s
⚡ 24 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.0m - 1.0m

209° SSW
Period: 7s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 13s
⚡ 24 kJ
At night Good

1.0m - 1.0m

208° SSW
Period: 8s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 13s
⚡ 31 kJ
Tides: 01:35 (0.25m) 08:15 (1.24m) 14:57 (0.24m) 20:38 (0.83m)
Morning Good

1.0m - 1.0m

226° SW
Period: 12s
2 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 18s
⚡ 71 kJ
Midday Fair

1.0m - 1.0m

225° SW
Period: 11s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 18s
⚡ 59 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.0m - 1.0m

225° SW
Period: 10s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 17s
⚡ 49 kJ
At night Epic

1.0m - 1.0m

227° SW
Period: 12s
2 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 12s
⚡ 71 kJ
Tides: 02:17 (0.24m) 08:52 (1.22m) 15:30 (0.17m) 21:14 (0.84m)
Morning Epic

1.6m - 1.8m

223° SW
Period: 12s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.0m 13s
⚡ 181 kJ
Midday Epic

1.9m - 2.0m

233° SW
Period: 13s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.2m 11s
⚡ 300 kJ
Afternoon Good

2.1m - 2.2m

226° SW
Period: 12s
10 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 6s
⚡ 312 kJ
At night Epic

1.7m - 2.2m

227° SW
Period: 13s
2 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 11s
⚡ 240 kJ
Tides: 02:52 (0.18m) 09:25 (1.17m) 15:52 (0.13m) 21:52 (0.90m)
Morning Epic

2.1m - 2.2m

229° SW
Period: 11s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 3s
⚡ 262 kJ
Midday Good

2.0m - 2.1m

230° SW
Period: 11s
12 km/h
⚡ 238 kJ
Afternoon Good

2.0m - 2.0m

230° SW
Period: 11s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 2s
⚡ 238 kJ
At night Epic

2.1m - 2.2m

231° SW
Period: 11s
2 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 3s
⚡ 262 kJ
Morning Epic

1.7m - 1.7m

232° SW
Period: 10s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 2s
⚡ 142 kJ
Midday Good

1.6m - 1.6m

231° SW
Period: 10s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 4s
⚡ 126 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.6m - 1.6m

231° SW
Period: 10s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 6s
⚡ 126 kJ
At night Epic

1.7m - 1.9m

231° SW
Period: 10s
2 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.2m 3s
⚡ 142 kJ
Morning Good

1.5m - 1.5m

230° SW
Period: 10s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 3s
⚡ 110 kJ
Midday Fair

1.5m - 1.6m

229° SW
Period: 10s
12 km/h
⚡ 110 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.6m - 1.6m

229° SW
Period: 10s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.1m 2s
⚡ 126 kJ
At night Good

1.6m - 1.7m

232° SW
Period: 10s
2 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 4s
⚡ 126 kJ
Morning Good

1.6m - 1.6m

224° SW
Period: 8s
5 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.3m 16s
⚡ 80 kJ
Midday Fair

1.5m - 1.6m

223° SW
Period: 8s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 16s
⚡ 71 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.5m - 1.5m

222° SW
Period: 8s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 16s
⚡ 71 kJ
At night Epic

1.6m - 1.7m

229° SW
Period: 9s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 10s
⚡ 102 kJ
Morning Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
5 km/h
Midday Flat

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
16 km/h
Afternoon Flat

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
15 km/h
At night Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
2 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
Sun 23 Aug 18:00 1.0m 10s 0.9m / 7s SSW 11 km/h 0.3m / 13s SW - 0.06 m/s 0.8 10+ km 0.57m
4
Sun 23 Aug 19:00 1.0m 10s 0.9m / 7s SSW 5 km/h 0.4m / 11s SW - - 0.1 10+ km 0.55m
7
Sun 23 Aug 20:00 1.0m 10s 0.8m / 7s SSW 5 km/h 0.4m / 10s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 0.50m
6
Sun 23 Aug 21:00 1.0m 10s 0.8m / 7s SSW 1 km/h 0.4m / 11s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 0.44m
7
Sun 23 Aug 22:00 1.0m 10s 0.8m / 7s SSW 11 km/h 0.4m / 12s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 0.36m
4
Sun 23 Aug 23:00 1.0m 10s 0.7m / 7s SSW 9 km/h 0.4m / 13s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 0.32m
5

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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 1.0m with a swell period of 7 seconds and W (5 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 20 °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 20 °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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