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Spots / Lima

Pico Alto

Lima, Lima - Punta Hermosa · Expert Good
1.1m
6/10
7s 9 km/h
Tomorrow's Forecast
Pico Alto - surf spot in Lima
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About Pico Alto

Pico Alto, in Punta Hermosa south of Lima, is South America's most famous big wave and one of the great challenges of surfing on the continent. It breaks about 700 meters offshore over a flat rock and sand bottom, and on the largest southwest swells it can reach heights of up to 15 meters. It is a fast, hollow and very powerful wave that favors the right, with a wall that demands total commitment from the peak. The best conditions run from March to August, when the long, strong south swells arrive. On the biggest days it is usually surfed by jet ski (tow in), and it is not a place to experiment: it is reserved exclusively for expert surfers with real big-wave experience and the safety teams that support them. Every season it draws some of the best big-wave riders in the world.

Characteristics

Level
Extreme conditions. Only for very experienced surfers.
· 📅 March - August ·
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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-12.3351°, -76.8345° Lima
Maps Waze

Pico Alto — Lima

Current Conditions

Updated 23/08/2026 18:00

Good
6/10

Waves

1.1m

10.8s period

Primary Swell

0.9m

7.1s S

Wind

9 km/h

Gusts 21 km/h S

Secondary Swell

0.5m

14.9s SW

Temp.

21.1°C

🦺 Shorty 2mm

UV

0.0

Low

Visibility

7.3 km

Moderate

Sun & Moon

☀️
↑ 06:16
↓ 18:03
🌙
↑ 14:24
↓ 02:51
🌖 Waxing Gibbous

Tide

Falling

Low Tide 20:30 - 0.38m

Today's Tides

High Tide

03:15

0.93m

Low Tide

10:00

0.54m

High Tide

14:45

0.66m

Low Tide

20:30

0.38m

Weekly Summary

Today

1.1m-1.1m

7s

S S S
8 km/h
🌖

Tomorrow

1.1m-1.2m

7s

S S S
8 km/h
🌖

Tue

1.2m-1.3m

10s

SSW SSW SSW
8 km/h
🌖

Wed

1.2m-1.3m

12s

SW SW SW
8 km/h
🌖

Thu

1.1m-1.2m

12s

SSW SSW SSW
6 km/h
🌕

Fri

1.2m-2.1m

12s

SW SW SW
8 km/h
🌕

Sat

1.9m-2.1m

11s

SW SW SW
9 km/h
🌕

Sun

1.8m-1.9m

10s

SW SW SW
11 km/h
🌕

Mon

1.9m-2.1m

6s

SSW S S
9 km/h
🌔

Tue

1.9m-2.1m

7s

SW SW SW
5 km/h
🌔

Wed

0.0m-0.0m

7 km/h
🌔

Day Block Forecast

Tides: 03:15 (0.93m) 10:00 (0.54m) 14:45 (0.66m) 20:30 (0.38m)
Morning Already passed
Midday Already passed
Afternoon Good

1.1m - 1.1m

186° S
Period: 7s
10 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 15s
⚡ 29 kJ
At night Good

1.1m - 1.1m

186° S
Period: 7s
8 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 15s
⚡ 29 kJ
Tides: 03:56 (0.99m) 10:45 (0.49m) 15:15 (0.65m) 21:15 (0.31m)
Morning Good

1.1m - 1.1m

192° SSW
Period: 7s
8 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 14s
⚡ 29 kJ
Midday Fair

1.1m - 1.1m

194° SSW
Period: 7s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 12s
⚡ 29 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.1m - 1.1m

194° SSW
Period: 7s
15 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 12s
⚡ 29 kJ
At night Good

1.1m - 1.2m

193° SSW
Period: 8s
5 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.6m 12s
⚡ 38 kJ
Tides: 04:30 (1.02m) 11:06 (0.47m) 15:54 (0.70m) 21:50 (0.32m)
Morning Good

1.3m - 1.3m

201° SSW
Period: 9s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 16s
⚡ 67 kJ
Midday Poor

1.3m - 1.3m

200° SSW
Period: 9s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 15s
⚡ 67 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.3m - 1.3m

199° SSW
Period: 8s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 15s
⚡ 53 kJ
At night Good

1.3m - 1.3m

207° SSW
Period: 11s
5 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 16s
⚡ 100 kJ
Tides: 05:00 (1.10m) 11:30 (0.49m) 16:30 (0.77m) 22:20 (0.34m)
Morning Good

1.3m - 1.3m

233° SW
Period: 11s
6 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 15s
⚡ 100 kJ
Midday Good

1.3m - 1.3m

233° SW
Period: 13s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 15s
⚡ 140 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.3m - 1.3m

232° SW
Period: 13s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 15s
⚡ 140 kJ
At night Good

1.2m - 1.3m

233° SW
Period: 11s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 14s
⚡ 86 kJ
Tides: 05:21 (1.12m) 11:56 (0.47m) 17:00 (0.80m) 22:50 (0.33m)
Morning Good

1.1m - 1.1m

223° SW
Period: 12s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 17s
⚡ 86 kJ
Midday Good

1.1m - 1.1m

224° SW
Period: 12s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 16s
⚡ 86 kJ
Afternoon Good

1.1m - 1.1m

226° SW
Period: 13s
9 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 8s
⚡ 100 kJ
At night Good

1.2m - 1.2m

224° SW
Period: 12s
5 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 12s
⚡ 102 kJ
Tides: 05:45 (1.11m) 12:21 (0.42m) 17:40 (0.78m) 23:30 (0.31m)
Morning Epic

1.6m - 1.7m

225° SW
Period: 13s
6 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 4s
⚡ 212 kJ
Midday Epic

1.8m - 1.9m

222° SW
Period: 12s
10 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.5m 14s
⚡ 229 kJ
Afternoon Fair

2.0m - 2.0m

223° SW
Period: 12s
13 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 5s
⚡ 283 kJ
At night Good

1.7m - 2.1m

223° SW
Period: 12s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 4s
⚡ 204 kJ
Tides: 06:13 (1.07m) 12:40 (0.39m) 18:21 (0.84m)
Morning Good

2.0m - 2.1m

224° SW
Period: 11s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 4s
⚡ 238 kJ
Midday Fair

2.0m - 2.0m

225° SW
Period: 11s
11 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 4s
⚡ 238 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.9m - 1.9m

225° SW
Period: 11s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 4s
⚡ 214 kJ
At night Good

2.0m - 2.1m

225° SW
Period: 11s
10 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.4m 4s
⚡ 238 kJ
Morning Good

1.8m - 1.8m

224° SW
Period: 10s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 5s
⚡ 159 kJ
Midday Good

1.8m - 1.8m

225° SW
Period: 10s
10 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 5s
⚡ 159 kJ
Afternoon Poor

1.8m - 1.8m

225° SW
Period: 10s
13 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.9m 5s
⚡ 159 kJ
At night Good

1.9m - 1.9m

224° SW
Period: 10s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.8m 5s
⚡ 177 kJ
Morning Good

2.1m - 2.1m

190° S
Period: 6s
5 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.2m 11s
⚡ 78 kJ
Midday Fair

2.1m - 2.1m

189° S
Period: 6s
12 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.3m 11s
⚡ 78 kJ
Afternoon Fair

2.1m - 2.1m

189° S
Period: 6s
14 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.3m 11s
⚡ 78 kJ
At night Good

2.0m - 2.1m

189° S
Period: 6s
9 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.2m 10s
⚡ 71 kJ
Morning Good

2.1m - 2.1m

186° S
Period: 6s
3 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.0m 10s
⚡ 78 kJ
Midday Fair

2.0m - 2.0m

187° S
Period: 6s
7 km/h
Secondary Swell: 1.0m 10s
⚡ 71 kJ
Afternoon Fair

1.9m - 2.0m

187° S
Period: 6s
8 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.9m 10s
⚡ 64 kJ
At night Good

2.1m - 2.1m

214° SW
Period: 9s
4 km/h
Secondary Swell: 0.7m 10s
⚡ 175 kJ
Morning Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
4 km/h
Midday Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
9 km/h
Afternoon Flat

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
11 km/h
At night Poor

0.0m - 0.0m

Period: 0s
6 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 1.1m 11s 0.9m / 7s S 10 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - 0.19 m/s 0.4 8.2 km 0.48m
6
Sun 23 Aug 19:00 1.1m 11s 0.9m / 7s S 9 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - - 0.0 7.3 km 0.42m
6
Sun 23 Aug 20:00 1.1m 11s 0.9m / 7s S 9 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - - 0.0 7.5 km 0.38m
6
Sun 23 Aug 21:00 1.1m 11s 0.9m / 7s S 9 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - - 0.0 10+ km 0.38m
6
Sun 23 Aug 22:00 1.1m 11s 0.9m / 7s S 9 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - - 0.0 1.0 km 0.42m
6
Sun 23 Aug 23:00 1.1m 11s 0.9m / 7s S 6 km/h 0.5m / 15s SW - - 0.0 0.3 km 0.52m
6

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Surf information for Pico Alto

Pico Alto is a Expert level surf spot located in Lima, Lima, Perú. The bottom surface is roca y arena. The waves break both left and right. The best season to surf is March - August.

Today's conditions at Pico Alto

Right now, Pico Alto has waves of about 1.1m with a swell period of 7 seconds and S (9 km/h) wind. These conditions are updated every 3 hours with the latest forecast.

At Pico Alto you can practice surf. The area offers parking. You can get there by car or boat.

Water temperature and wetsuit

The water at Pico Alto is around 21 °C, so a 2/2 mm spring suit is recommended.

Frequently asked questions about surfing at Pico Alto

Is the wave at Pico Alto a left or a right?
Pico Alto offers both left and right waves.
What level do you need to surf at Pico Alto?
Pico Alto is a spot recommended for expert surfers.
What is the best season to surf at Pico Alto?
The best season to surf at Pico Alto is March - August.
Where is Pico Alto located?
Pico Alto is located in Punta Hermosa, Lima, Peru.
How do you get to Pico Alto?
You can reach Pico Alto by car or boat.
What is the water temperature at Pico Alto?
The water is around 21 °C, so a 2/2 mm spring suit is recommended.

Sports, services & how to get there

Sports

surf

Services

estacionamiento

Access

auto bote

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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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