Faja da Areia Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for this stretch of coast.

The whole 16-day window is a bit of a struggle, to be honest. There's a long, quiet spell at the start, and even when the swell does show up, the wind is mostly a problem. It’s not until the very end of the month that we get a proper chance at something clean. The standout window is the morning of Thursday, 30 July, and the afternoon of Thursday, 30 July. That’s where the best surf is.

The first real surf worth mentioning doesn't show up until Thursday morning, 23 July. Faja da Areia will see a NNE swell of 5 ft, with a period of 8 seconds. The combined energy hits 250 (moderate wave energy), but the wind is a cross-on from the NE at 6 mph, keeping things messy. The surf is only marginal. The overnight period into Thursday, 30 July, finally brings a change. The wind goes glassy, and the water temperature is 76° – that’s a couple of degrees warmer than usual for the time of year, which is a nice bonus.

Thursday, 30 July, is the pick. The morning session offers a 5 ft NNE swell, period of 8 seconds, with a glassy SSW wind at 3 mph. The combined energy is 369 (moderate wave energy). The surf report says "expect good surf conditions," and that’s exactly what we'll get. The afternoon holds up nicely too, with a 5 ft NNE swell, still glassy but with a WNW wind. The energy bumps up to 439 (moderate wave energy). This is the best two-session window of the whole outlook. After that, the wind swings back onshore, and the swell tails off into the start of August, with the energy dropping to weak levels in the 70s and 100s by the 3rd of August.

The rest of the first week and into the second is pretty poor. The surf is either too small, too windy, or both. On the 25th and 26th of July, the swell climbs to 7 ft - 7 ft, but the wind is a cross-on NE breeze, which will just chop it all up. The energy is strong, hitting 531 (moderate wave energy) on the 26th, but it’s not a clean wave. The swell direction is a bit off the optimum (NNW) for this point break, and the period is short, so the shape is poor.

Remember, Faja da Areia is a point break, and it’s *inconsistent* and *rarely breaks*, so the fact that it even has a few days of swell is notable. It’s an exposed spot, so it needs the right angle. The swell is mostly from the NNE, which isn't its optimum (NNW), so it’s not really working at its best. The sets will be there, but the quality will be lacking.

So, to sum it up: the first week is a washout. The second week has a solid window on Thursday the 30th of July, with clean, glassy conditions and a decent 5 ft to 5 ft groundswell. That’s your one and only standout. After that, it peters out. For the rest of the time, the consistent cross-on wind means the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing when the swell is bigger.

Rusty.

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