Meia Praia Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer for Meia-Praia over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s one of those outlooks where you’re better off finding something else to do. The whole 16-day stretch is a consistent letdown – we’re talking tiny waves, barely a ripple. There’s a solid gap from the start with no real rideable surf, and even when there’s a little bump, the conditions just don’t stack up.

The first bit of potential, and I use that term loosely, shows up on Tuesday morning, July 7th. It’s glassy – dead calm (0 mph wind) – and you get a tiny 1 ft ESE swell, but the period is a short, weak 6 seconds. The combined energy is barely a whisper at (12). It’s poor, plain and simple. The afternoon picks up a 12 mph offshore from the WNW, which cleans it up, but the wave has already dropped to 1.0 ft with a pathetic 5-second period (5 energy). Not worth paddling out for.

The rest of that first week and into the second is just more of the same misery. We’re looking at swell heights hovering around 0.3 ft, with periods that are all over the place – some long-period 16-second groundswell pops up on Thursday and Friday, but with that tiny height, it’s all just a bump on the water, not a wave. Energy readings stay low, mostly in the single digits (2 to 15), and even the clean, offshore winds can’t make up for the fact there’s no real swell to work with.

From Saturday, July 11th, right through to Wednesday, July 22nd, the data just keeps spitting out zeros and 0.3 ft. You get long stretches of “poor surf conditions” with no measurable wave height. There are long periods of fresh offshore winds – up to 19 or 22 mph – which would be great if there was any swell, but it’s blowing over a flat ocean.

Forget hunting for a stand-out session here. The swell never gets anywhere close to 5 ft, so it’s not even a question of it being too big. The prevailing wind is offshore or cross-offshore for most of the time, so when a tiny pulse comes through, the surface will be clean – but you’ll be bobbing around on nothing. Meia-Praia is an inconsistent spot, and this forecast shows exactly why. If you absolutely have to get wet, your best bet is the Tuesday morning (July 7th) glass-off for a float, but don’t expect to catch a ride. It’s a write-off for paddle surfing.

- Rusty

Read more