Playa do Carreiro Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

First up, we’re looking at Playa do Carreiro, a river mouth setup that’s exposed to the WNW. The water temp is sitting at 67°, which is about normal for this time of year, so nothing weird going on there.

The start of the week is a bit of a write-off. Monday and Tuesday are a mess of cross-onshore winds with choppy conditions, and the swell is small and weak. The combined wave energy is only in the low hundreds (143, 215, 128), which means the ocean’s just not got any drive. You’re better off waiting.

The first real chance to paddle out comes on Wednesday, August 5th. The morning is looking clean, with a gentle cross-offshore breeze from the N. The swell is a small 3ft from the NW, with a period of 10 seconds – that’s a little bit of groundswell, enough to put some shape into the river mouth. The combined energy jumps to 217 (moderate), and the forecast says “expect good surf conditions.” It’s not huge, but it’s clean, and for a river break, that NW line-up with a clean wind is a little gem. The afternoon gets windier, so the morning session is the call here. Crowds are a “sometimes” thing, so you might not have it entirely to yourself, but it’s not a zoo.

Thursday, August 6th morning is still clean with a small 3ft swell from the NNW, but the energy drops to 149 and the conditions are ordinary. It’s surfable, but nothing to get excited about. The rest of the week into the weekend fades away fast. By Friday 7th, the swell drops to 2ft and the energy is barely a whisper (65). You’d be chasing knee-high dribble.

The following week is a long stretch of flat and weak. From Sunday, August 9th right through to Tuesday, August 18th, the swell height rarely gets above 2ft, and the wave energy is in the dumps (single digits to low double digits). The only blip of hope is Friday, August 14th afternoon, when the swell bumps up to 3ft from the NNW with a period of 8 seconds, and the energy hits 200. The wind is a clean cross-off from the NW, and the forecast says “expect good surf conditions.” That’s the standout of the second week. It’s a one-off window, and the swell is short-period, so it won’t be groundswell quality, but it’ll be clean and head-high for a few hours.

There’s a huge gap of nearly a week of total flatness from the 9th to the 14th, so don’t hold your breath. The best of the whole 16 days is the Wednesday morning, August 5th, and the second-best is the Friday afternoon, August 14th. Mark them down.

Rusty out.

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