Navegantes Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at what’s going on for Navegantes over the next couple of weeks.

To be honest, the first week and a half is a bit of a write-off. There’s barely a wave worth paddling out for until Monday the 10th of August. The swell is tiny, mostly under 3 ft, and the wind is constantly messing things up – cross-shore or onshore, with a lot of chop. Even where we get a clean window, like the glassy spell on Tuesday morning the 4th, the swell is just too small (2 ft) to get excited about. You’d be bobbing around on nothing.

Things start to get a little more interesting around midday on Monday the 10th of August. We finally get a bump of swell from the SSE, pushing to 4 ft in the afternoon. The wind swings light SW, cleaning it right up, and the wave energy jumps to a solid moderate 231. It’s not huge, but it’s the first real surfable option we’ve seen in days.

The standout, without a doubt, is Tuesday morning the 11th of August. The SSE swell builds to 6 ft, the wind goes glassy with a slight air from the SW, and the combined energy hits a very strong 677. That’s proper groundswell energy, feeling its way in. The period is 9 seconds, so it’s not a long-period draggy beast, it’ll have some push and shape. With those clean conditions, the morning session at Navegantes is the pick of the whole outlook. Just keep an eye on the crowds, it can get busy here.

After that, the swell turns a bit weird. The afternoon of the 11th drops right off, and we get a big, strong S/SSE swell building from the 13th. On Thursday the 13th of August, we’re looking at 6 ft to 7 ft swell from the South with very strong energy (1097 to 1645), but the wind is a moderate cross-shore from the SSE, making it messy and tough to handle. That sort of size at Navegantes, with that wind and a chunky cross-chop, is really only going to be for the experts, or even more interesting for kite surfing than a proper paddle session. The long 13-14 second period on that big swell is best suited to a point break or reef, not the beach setup here, so it’ll be fat and mushy close to shore, or closing out.

Later, on Saturday morning the 15th of August, we get a reprieve. The swell drops to 3 ft from the SE, but the wind goes glassy from the NW, and the energy is still moderate at 237 from that lingering groundswell. It’ll be glassy, clean, and small – a nice mellow session if you’re keen, but not a stand-out.

For water temps at Navegantes, on the 1st of August it’s 66°. The anomaly is +0.7°, so it’s pretty much what you’d expect for this time of year – not a shocker, just standard.

Summing it up: the real day to circle is Tuesday the 11th of August, early morning. That’s your best chance for clean, head-high-plus surf with proper energy. The big stuff on the 13th is for the fearless or for the foilers and kite crew. Otherwise, the first ten days are a waiting game.

– Rusty

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