Beliche Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. We’ve got a long stretch of nothing special ahead for the next couple of weeks. The ocean’s gonna be there, but the waves? Not so much. We’re looking at a solid run of small, weak surf with a lot of fresh wind, and it’s going to take a while before anything remotely rideable shows up.

The first week is a total write-off. From Friday the 7th through to Wednesday the 13th, we’re dealing with tiny, gutless slop. Swell heights are mostly under 3 feet, and the periods are short and unimpressive. The combined energy is weak, reading values like 28 and 51 in the brackets. It’s clean out there with offshore winds, but clean and tiny is still just flat. You’d be better off having a surf check on the way to work than paddling out. This is a real test of patience.

Finally, on Thursday the 14th, we start to see a pulse. It’s not good, but it’s something. The swell picks up to 4ft and the energy climbs to 253. Still, the period is a short 6 seconds, which is just windswell junk. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. The Saturday the 16th sees a bit more size, around 5ft to 6ft, but that energy is weak and the wind state is still messy. This is still a “check it if you’re desperate” kind of situation.

Now, here’s where we need to talk about the only real standout in this whole miserable outlook. The week starting Monday the 17th brings the biggest swell of the period, but with a big, fat caveat. Swell heights build to 7ft on Monday the 17th, then hover around 6ft to 7ft for the next few days. The combined energy jumps into the strong range, reading 638 and 759 in the brackets. This is real swell. However, the period is still short, around 8 seconds, and the winds are fresh and strong. This looks less like a clean, groomed swell and more like a lumpy, wind-blown mess. At this size, over 7ft, it’s not a beginner wave, and with the wind, only the most experienced should even think about it. In fact, with that much swell and those strong cross-offshore winds, a spot like Beliche (Algarve) is probably going to be more interesting for the kite crew than for us paddle surfers. The waves will be there, but the quality is just not there yet.

The last couple of days, the 21st and 22nd, we see the size back off a touch to 4ft to 5ft, and the energy drops out of the “strong” zone. The winds ease slightly, but it’s still not the clean, lined-up surf we’re all hoping for.

So, what’s the call? If you’ve got to get wet, your best bet is early on the 17th or the mornings of the 19th and 20th. That’s when the swell is biggest and the winds are more offshore. But don’t expect perfection. This is a case of making the most of a messy, powerful ocean. The long-range stuff looks promising, but it's a week away, and forecasts can change. It tends not to stay poor for long around here, so keep your hopes up, but your expectations low for now.

This is Rusty, signing off. We’ll get some good ones soon.

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