Canto do Leblon Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s coming down the line for Canto do Leblon.

Honestly, the next week or so is pretty flat and frustrating. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak surf with iffy winds. Don’t get your hopes up until we hit the second week of August. The real standout, if it holds, is a big pulse of southerly groundswell arriving on Tuesday the 11th of August.

Right now, from Wednesday the 29th of July through the weekend, it’s tiny. Waist-high or smaller at 2ft from the south. The mornings start clean, like Wednesday with that glassy afternoon and a light offshore – but the energy is weak, only around 130 (combined energy). It’s surfable but very ordinary.

Thursday and Friday the 30th and 31st are a write-off. The wind swings onshore or cross-shore and the swell drops further. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, nothing unusual to report.

Saturday the 1st of August shows a flicker of hope. The morning has clean conditions with a light cross-offshore breeze from the NNE and that south swell holding at 2ft. The combined energy jumps a bit to 273 (moderate). It’s a decent early window, but it’s not going to set the world on fire.

Then we hit a real flat spell from Sunday the 2nd right through to the 10th. The swell barely kicks above 2ft most days, and the wind is messy. You’ll see the odd clean morning, like Tuesday the 4th with the cross-offshore, but the swell direction is shifting and the period is short. It's poor.

Now, get this. On Tuesday the 11th of August, things get interesting. A solid south swell rolls in, hitting 5ft in the morning and building to 6ft by the afternoon. The period is very long, 16 seconds (groundswell). The combined energy is massive – over 1100 (strong) in the morning, surging to 1402 (very strong) in the afternoon. This is a powerful, long-period groundswell. This break is a beach and point setup, so that long period might make it a bit tricky at the beach, but the point should handle it well. The downside: the wind is light cross-onshore in the morning and onshore by the afternoon, so conditions will be less than perfect. Still, for size and power, this is the only window that really matters in the whole outlook. It’s not for beginners at 5-6ft with that energy.

Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th still have solid 4-5ft south swell but with strong cross or onshore winds, so it’s going to be choppy and messy.

Overall, you have to be patient. The first 12 days are mostly a dud. The one chance you’ve got is Tuesday the 11th. If you’re an experienced surfer who can handle a powerful, long-period swell and less-than-perfect wind, that’s your day. The rest is for the kite surfers.

Stay tuned, forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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