Esposende Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break down what’s on the menu for the next couple of weeks. We’ve got a single spot in the game: Esposende, a river mouth break that’s a solid beginner option. It’s fairly consistent, but the wind is a real fickle character here. The water is sitting at 69°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that’s a nice bonus.

The first few days are a bit of a tease. Tuesday morning, 11th August, we’ve got glassy conditions with a tiny 2ft NW swell and weak energy (76). It’s surfable but very ordinary. The afternoon gets blown out with a cross-onshore wind, so forget about it.

Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th are the real highlights of the early window. Both mornings start with glassy clean conditions, a 3ft to 4ft W swell at 10 seconds, and decent energy (225 and 279). The swell direction is straight from the west, which is pretty much bang on the optimum for this spot. These are the best you’ll get for a clean, fun session. The afternoons, as usual, turn into a choppy mess with cross-onshore winds.

Friday the 14th morning is marginal, then the afternoon kicks up a short, messy 6ft swell from the NW with a puny 6-second period and fresh onshore winds. Not worth the paddle.

Saturday the 15th morning is a bit of a wildcard. The swell jumps to 8ft from the NNW with a moderate energy (956), and it’s windy and cross-shore, making it a struggle. The afternoon is a strong onshore mess at 10ft and 1047 energy – that’s getting serious for a river mouth. This is looking more like a kite session than a paddle session.

Sunday the 16th and Monday the 17th mornings are clean. We get a nice cross-offshore breeze, making for clean, lined-up waves of 5ft to 6ft from the NNW with moderate energy (287 to 396). These are solid, workable conditions, but the afternoons get wrecked by fresh onshore winds.

After that, we hit a dry spell. From Tuesday the 18th through to Friday morning the 21st, it’s mostly poor to marginal. The wind is wrong, or the swell is too short period and messy. There’s a pulse on the 20th that looks promising at first – Thursday morning the 20th is glassy with a 7ft NW swell and massive energy (1120), described as excellent for experienced surfers. But the afternoon the same day is already too big (10ft) and onshore, with the file warning the swell is predicted to be too big for this break. So, that’s a no-go.

The last week of the forecast, from the 21st to the 26th, is a grim story. The wind is almost always onshore, fresh to strong, and the swell is either too big, too short period, or just messy. There are a few morning windows where the wind is just cross-shore that might be marginal, but honestly, nothing I’d recommend. The consistency is there, but the quality is not.

So, the real standout is Wednesday morning, 12th August, and Thursday morning, 13th August. Glassy, clean, waist-high swell from the west, energy in the moderate range. That’s the time to get wet. The Sunday and Monday mornings of the 16th and 17th are also a good backup. After that, it’s a long wait for something clean that doesn’t get blown out or too big.

-Rusty

Read more