Atalaia (Molhes) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for the next couple of weeks. The setup is looking pretty flat to start, with a bit of a wait for the good stuff. The first real hint of something happening is on Tuesday morning, 1st September, but it’s nothing to write home about.

We’ve got a long stretch of lacklustre surf ahead. The first few days are basically a write-off with small, weak waves and messy wind. Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th are particularly rough, with the swell struggling to get past 4ft and the wind blowing all wrong. It’s not until Monday the 31st that we see a tiny bit of life, with a 3ft wave from the east, but it’s still pretty ordinary. The wind on Monday afternoon goes glassy, which is a nice touch, but the waves are just too small to get excited about.

Tuesday the 1st stays small, but Wednesday the 2nd is where it starts to get interesting. The morning shows a clean 5ft swell from the southeast, with a period of 11 seconds – that’s a proper groundswell. The combined energy is moderate at 531, and the wind is glassy. That’s a real standout for the whole period. The beach/jetty setup at Atalaia (Molhes) should be handling that nicely, and with the swell direction from the SSE matching the preferred direction, it’s a solid bet. That Wednesday morning is the best on offer, no question.

After that, the swell backs off again. Thursday the 3rd looks clean but small, and Friday the 4th is dribbling out. The weekend of the 5th and 6th is back to tiny, weak waves, with the energy dropping right down.

Then we get a second pulse, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The morning of Thursday the 10th sees a sudden jump to 8ft from the ENE, but the period is only 8 seconds. That’s a lot of water moving fast, but it’s short-period windswell, not the cleanest. The combined energy is 1639, which is strong, but that size is only for experienced surfers. The wind is light and cross-off, so it’s clean, but it’s a beast of a wave. The afternoon is a better 7ft and glassy, which is a nice option for the more confident crew. Friday the 11th drops back to 5ft but stays clean.

By the weekend of the 12th and 13th, the wind turns onshore again and the surf fades. The last day in the window, Sunday the 13th, is glassy but only 3ft.

So, the standout is hands down Wednesday morning, the 2nd of September. Clean, glassy, 5ft of proper groundswell from the southeast. Get on it. The Thursday the 10th is a big-wave option for the experienced only. The rest of the window is a whole lot of waiting.

Rusty.

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