Harbour Wall - El Muelle

If you sail upwind to the left of the launch site in South Bay you’ll eventually get to the Harbour Wall or El Muelle (just a quick 5-10 minute upwind tack). The Harbour Wall splits Cabezo beach and the South Bay and can give a very nice, clean wave.

Normally best at low to mid-tide, it offers a perfect introduction to wave sailing. Again with cross-onshore wind conditions blowing from the left, the wave here lacks a little of the punch, power and size you find in Cabezo, but has the major advantage that when it does go wrong you’ll be merely swept into the open expanse of the bay and away from the impact zone.

On its day it can easily hold waves of 2 – 3m with long open walls allowing for multiple bottom turn/off the lip combinations as the wave wraps around the end of the reef. At high tide the waves tend to bounce off the harbour wall and the inside becomes very confused. However, if the swell is big enough then it’s not an issue as you can ride far enough away that you don’t notice it.

Riding back downwind from the Harbour wall to the South Bay launch site is a true pleasure as you carve and turn your way through the ocean swell. It’s worth the ride upwind to the harbour just to make the down wind trip back!

Before riding El Muelle, it’s a good idea to take a walk to the end of the wall first so you can familiarize yourself with the break and the location of the reef.