Carcavelos Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, mate, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what Carcavelos has in store for us over the next couple of weeks.

Straight up, the first proper recommendation doesn't pop up until Saturday, 18 July, so we've got a bit of a dry spell to get through first. The early part of the period is pretty flat and weak, with small, short-period swells and onshore or cross-shore winds messing things up. Not worth paddling out for.

The action kicks off on Saturday the 18th with some solid, clean swell but there's a catch. We get a clean, cross-offshore wind but the swell is already pushing 6 ft to 7 ft from the NNW, with a short period of 7 seconds. This is already borderline for beginners, and the wave energy is ramping up from moderate to strong (346 to 376).

The standout period is actually Sunday the 19th of July through Tuesday the 21st. The conditions are clean with cross-offshore winds, but the problem is the swell gets too big for this break. On Sunday morning it's 8 ft from the NNW (combined energy 627), and it stays around 6 ft to 8 ft with clean conditions for a couple of days. The water temp is 68°F with a tiny anomaly of 0.2°F, so it’s pretty average for the time of year. The problem is, this is all too chunky for a spot like Carcavelos. The short period – 7 to 8 seconds – means it’ll be a bit walled-up and dumping, making it a tough paddle even if it looks clean. This is really only for experienced surfers, and honestly, with the swell size and that short-period punch, it might be more interesting for the kite crew than a standard longboard session.

After that, we get a bit of a drop-off. Wednesday the 22nd sees cleaner, smaller 4 ft swell, but the wind picks up with the fresh breeze. Then Thursday the 23rd of July brings another massive spike: 8 ft to 10 ft from the NNW with very strong wave energy (982 to 1054). Again, it looks clean with cross-offshore wind, but this is expert-only territory – way too big for most. That trend continues through to Sunday the 26th, with consistent 7 ft to 10 ft swells and fresh winds. Some of those later days in the second week, like Friday the 24th (10 ft from NNW), are huge and powerful, but with cross-shore winds they’ll be choppy and messy.

Overall, the only window that offers anything close to good surf is that first stretch from the 19th to the 21st, but even then, it's oversized. If you're an expert on a step-up board, you might get some waves, but for most of us, this is a waiting game. The rest of the run is either too small, too windy, or too big for a good time. The forecast holds some promise further out but it’s less certain – as always, keep an eye on the sky.

Rusty.

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