Like in 2015: Puerto Escondido Experiences a Swell of Extraordinary Proportions
- Ayelet Fuentes Guerra
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
The interaction between a powerful south groundswell and an intense storm swell is injecting an enormous amount of energy into the waters of Puerto Escondido. With waves continuing to grow and a coastline increasingly battered by the sea, surfers and filmmakers are following one of the most impactful ocean events of recent years.
Puerto Escondido is experiencing days of great anticipation; a powerful combination of swell systems has transformed the landscape at Playa Zicatela, where the ocean has displayed a level of power rarely seen, even for one of the heaviest beach breaks on the planet. Among those closely following the evolution of the phenomenon is surfer and filmmaker Edwin Morales, who over the last few hours has shared analysis and footage of the magnitude of the swell impacting the coast of Oaxaca.
According to Morales on Instagram, forecasting platforms began detecting a powerful Pacific storm several days ago, and he stated: "It's impressive what I'm seeing this morning. Stormsurf is showing nearly 11 feet of deep-water swell and the numbers I'm seeing in those spikes are truly impressive." Beyond the size of the swell, the interaction between a south groundswell, with periods approaching 18 and 19 seconds, and an intense shorter-period storm swell is generating an enormous amount of energy in the ocean.
"As the day goes on, the numbers keep increasing. Honestly, these numbers remind me a lot of what happened in 2015," he commented. The comparison has not gone unnoticed, as the 2015 swell remains in the memory of many surfers as one of the most significant events ever recorded in Puerto Escondido due to the size of the waves and the energy that reached the shores of Zicatela.
Conditions on the ground already reflect the magnitude of the phenomenon, and Morales has dedicated himself to documenting how the ocean has transformed the beach as the tide advances. "The sound of the ocean keeps getting louder and louder. It's truly impressive to feel that kind of power," he explained in his stories, which show a beach increasingly reduced by the advancing water, structures near the shoreline being reached by waves, and a constant surge of energy continuing to pound the coast.
As the swell continued to build, the scene became increasingly dramatic. According to Morales, the sound of the ocean was completely different from what it had been during the early hours of the day, and the power of the waves was evident even from buildings located in front of the beach. From a third-floor vantage point overlooking the ocean, Morales watched the tide advance along the coast and steadily reduce the amount of available sand.
While documenting the conditions unfolding at Zicatela, he said: "It's a super rough, monstrous ocean, worthy of a horror movie," and although he acknowledged the fascination generated by witnessing an ocean of such magnitude, he also warned about the consequences that these types of events can have on the coastline.
As waves continue to arrive in Puerto Escondido and forecasts maintain elevated energy levels for the coming hours, surfers, photographers, and filmmakers remain attentive to the evolution of a phenomenon that is already producing memorable images at Playa Zicatela.
Conditions that evoke the historic 2015 swell and once again demonstrate why Puerto Escondido remains one of the most extreme and fascinating places in the world when the Pacific Ocean unleashes its full power.
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