Figueiros Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, peeking at the charts for this stretch of coast. Let’s be straight up about it – the outlook for Figueiros is pretty grim for quite a while. It’s a real dry spell, with a lot of days that just aren’t worth paddling out for. There’s a solid gap of poor conditions, so if you’re hanging for a wave, you’ll have to be patient. The water temperature, at 68°F, is running about 3°F colder than usual for this time of year, so a bit of extra rubber might be a good idea.

Looking at the first half of the run, from Saturday the 22nd into the whole of next week, it’s all onshore, cross-shore, or that dreaded cross-on wind. The swell that does show up is pretty weak and messy, with combined energy readings mostly in the low hundreds or less – think a ‘274’ reading on Saturday, which is just a lot of wind chop with no real power. Sunday the 23rd morning brings a pulse of 7ft swell from the WNW with a 12-second period, and the combined energy jumps to ‘1152’, a solid moderate-to-strong reading, but the wind is a cross-off at 16 mph. The wave comment says “marginal” and the score is low, so while there’s some size, it’s not clean enough to get excited about. That kind of power straight on a beach break can make it close out hard, so it might be more of a challenge than a pleasure.

The one bright spot in the whole 16-day window comes on Tuesday morning, August 25th. We get a clean 5ft swell from the WNW, and here’s the kicker: it’s glassy with only a 3 mph land breeze from the W. The combined energy is a weak ‘220’, but the wave comment is the only one that says “expect good surf conditions”. It’s not a huge day, but it’s the only time the wind is right and the water will be smooth. If you can get out for that morning session, jump on it. For a beginner spot like Figueiros, that 5ft is a fun, manageable size. It gets a bit better with a period of 8 seconds – not a long groundswell, but it’ll push in clean.

Don’t hold your breath for the rest. From the 26th onward, it’s a wasteland. The winds hold from the north or northwest, mostly onshore or cross-on, and the swell drops off to barely a ripple for days, with combined energy readings staying between 54 and 339. There are some bigger numbers on the charts, like the 6ft from the NW on Friday the 28th (combined energy ‘1195’), but it’s accompanied by a howling 16 mph onshore wind. That’s not surf for a paddle board, that’s more of a session for a kite. The setup looks beat-up and blown out.

So, to boil it down: the first week is a write-off with maybe one decent glassy window on Tuesday morning. The second week looks even more tired, with small, choppy leftovers and nothing to recommend. Don’t bank on a long-range winner here. Forecasts can change, but right now, the 16-day run is lean.

- Rusty

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