Ponta Negra Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the menu for the next couple of weeks at Ponta Negra.

Honestly, looking at the entire 16-day run, it's a fairly bleak stretch. We’ve got consistent swell rolling in, but it’s never quite coming together with the wind. There's no standout session to circle on the calendar. The water temp is sitting at 80° with a tiny anomaly of +0.9°, so it’s pretty much what you’d expect for this time of year.

The whole period is plagued by a persistent cross-onshore wind, mostly from the ESE and SE, gusting at 12 to 16 mph. That’s a real bummer because it just chops everything up. Even though the swell is pumping at times – like on Monday the 31st of August with a 6 ft swell from the ESE and a combined energy of 533 – the wind makes it a write-off. The period is short at 8 seconds, so it's weak, junky windswell anyway, and the onshore breeze just makes it a mess.

We see that swell size peaks around the start of September. Tuesday the 1st of September morning brings an offshore wind from the ESE at 12 mph with a 6 ft ESE swell and a combined energy of 437, but it’s labelled as "poor surf conditions." That trend continues. The 31st of August through to the 2nd of September has the biggest energy numbers (533, 493, 437, 781), but it's all accompanied by that terrible cross-offshore or onshore flow, ruining any potential for a clean wave.

It’s frustrating because the swell is there – it doesn't really dip below 3 ft for the whole 16 days. But the wind is the enemy here. Even when the wind is deemed "on" (offshore) on a few mornings, like Thursday the 3rd of September, the surf report still says "poor surf conditions." The combined swell energy on the 1st of September afternoon hits 781, which is moderate, but with a 6 ft ESE swell and a cross-onshore wind, it’s just not worth paddling out. The break is consistent and exposed to the swell, but with that wind direction, it’s going to be choppy and ugly.

Later in the run, from the 5th of September onwards, the swell starts to back off, dropping from 4 ft down to 3 ft. The wind eases a touch to a 9 mph Gentle breeze from the E or ENE, which is offshore, but the energy has dropped off significantly to the 130-160 range. It’s small and weak, and while it might be clean, there just isn’t enough push for a decent wave. It's a consistent break, but this stretch is looking like a total blank for any quality ride.

To sum it up, this is a period where the swell is consistent but the wind is consistently bad. There are no surfable windows in the entire forecast. When the wind is half-decent, the swell is small, and when the swell is bigger, the onshore wind destroys it. It looks like the kitesurfers might get more out of this than the paddle crew. Sometimes it just doesn’t line up, and this is one of those times.

Rusty.

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