Barrinha Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me tell ya what’s cookin’ over at Barrinha – and to be real with you, it’s a pretty quiet stretch for the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a long, flat gap right from the start.

Wednesday 5th August through to Sunday 9th August – honestly, save your gas. The surf is tiny or non-existent, with wave heights barely scraping 1 ft to 1 ft at best, and the wind is mostly a fresh cross-onshore from the NE, making it lumpy. The combined swell energy is way down, ranging from just 6 right up to 182 – which still sounds okay but that’s weak, weak energy. Not worth paddling for.

We finally see a flicker of life on Monday 10th August in the morning. The wind goes glassy – yes, actual glass – and the swell is a tiny 1 ft from the SSE with a long-period of 13 seconds. It’s surfable, but honestly, it’s very ordinary. Combined energy is only 71. A longboard might get you going, but it’s not a shout-out moment.

Tuesday 11th August is where things get interesting, but only for the morning. We’ve got a solid 5 ft swell rolling in from the S with a cracking 14-second period – that’s groundswell, proper energy, with a combined energy reading of 1141. That’s strong. Wind is a cross-offshore from the SW, which will keep it clean. This is your best look in the whole window. It’s an intermediate-level wave at that size, but it’s got punch. The afternoon goes back to junk with onshore wind.

After that, from Wednesday 12th August through to Thursday 20th August, it’s a real struggle. The swell stays small, mostly 2 ft to 3 ft, and the wind is either onshore or fresh cross-onshore making it choppy. There are a few glassy mornings on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th where the swell is 2 ft from the SSE – rideable on a longboard, but nothing to write home about. Combined energy sits around 190 to 218 – moderate, but the waves lack shape.

Around Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th August, we get a bit of a bump. Morning of the 15th has a clean 3 ft from the SSE with offshore winds and combined energy of 396. It’s on the small side, but clean. The 16th sees a bump to 3 ft from the same direction with 635 combined energy – the best looking of the second week. Still, it’s marginal and only really for the patient surfer.

From Monday 17th August onward, the swell starts building again to 5 ft–5 ft from the east, but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore, so the quality drops hard.

The standout is Tuesday 11th August morning. That 5 ft S swell, 14-second period, 1141 energy – that’s the one to wait for. Everything else is either blown out or too small.

Water temp at Barrinha is 73°F – pretty much normal for this time of year, anomaly is only -0.4°F, so no surprises there.

Keep an eye on the forecast, though. We might see a shift. It tends not to stay this flat forever.

- Rusty

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