Picao (Baia Formosa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it. I’ve been staring at the charts for Picao (Baia Formosa) and, well, I gotta be honest with you – it’s a rough stretch. The whole 16-day window is a write-off for any kind of decent surf. There’s nothing to get excited about.

We start off on Thursday, August 6th, and it’s already a tough scene. The swell is a weak 3ft pushing in from the east, with a short, gutless 7-second period. The combined energy is only moderate (126), but the wind is a cross-off from the southeast at 12 mph, keeping the surface clean. But it’s just not enough push. The surf is poor. This same pattern drags on through Friday and Saturday, with the wind turning more cross-shore, adding a bit of chop to the mix. The swell stays tiny, barely 3ft, and the period is still short.

We get a little bump on Sunday morning, August 9th, with the swell hitting 4ft and the period stretching to 8 seconds, which bumps the energy up to 325. But the wind is still cross from the east at 12 mph, and the surface is lumpy. It’s still marked as poor surf. The next week is more of the same – a mix of cross-off and cross winds, swell heights hovering between 3ft and 5ft, and periods that barely crack 8 seconds. The energy ticks up a bit, reaching 325 at one point, but it’s never enough to create a decent wave.

By the second week, we see a weird shift. On Saturday, August 15th, the period jumps to 14 seconds, a long-period groundswell, but the swell height is a pathetic 1ft. The energy is moderate (179), but the wind is a messy cross-on from the east at 9 mph. The wave comment says it all: poor surf conditions. This long-period, tiny swell is a total tease. Sunday and Monday look similar, with the period hanging around 12 to 13 seconds, but the swell stays under 3ft and the wind is either cross-on or cross. It’s cleanish at times, but there’s just no power.

Honestly, this is a total blank run. There’s not a single day in the whole 16-day forecast that offers anything worth paddling out for. The wind is never properly offshore, the swell is either too small, too short-period, or both. For a spot like Picao, a reef break that needs a decent push, this is a normal quiet spell. Sometimes it just goes flat and the forecasts don’t lie. If you’ve got a kite, you might find some fun in the stronger cross-off winds, but for a surfboard, leave it at home.

Stay patient, folks. The ocean will wake up again.
Rusty.

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