Porto Batel Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the cards for Porto Batel over the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you – for a solid week and a half, we’re looking at a pretty dire stretch of tiny, weak surf. It’s one of those periods where you’re better off checking the gear or having a sleep-in. The real action, and I mean *real* action, doesn't fire up until the last weekend of the window. That's where the standout lies.

The opening days from Wednesday the 8th right through to Saturday the 19th are, quite frankly, a struggle. We’re talking ankle to knee-high dribble, with swell heights barely hitting 2ft to 2ft most days. The combined energy is weak, sitting around 30 to 131 (weak to moderate energy). Winds are mostly cross or cross-off, which keeps the surface clean, but with the swell being so small and periods short (6 to 11 seconds), there’s just no push to get excited about. There is a fleeting moment on the morning of Sunday the 12th where the wind goes glassy, but with only 2ft of weak WNW swell, it’s just a pretty, unrideable lake. We get a little bump on the morning of Friday the 17th with 3ft and a clean cross-off, but it’s still very ordinary. Overall, it's a big, long gap of poor conditions until we see any proper size.

Now, hold onto your board shorts, because things change in a big way starting the morning of Saturday the 19th. The swell jumps up, and by Sunday the 19th afternoon we’re looking at 7ft of NNW swell. The combined energy rockets up to 509, which is strong. The wind stays clean, cross-off from the N/NNW. This is finally something worth paddling out for, but it's big – over 5ft, so it's a bit much for the groms. The real standout, though, is the Monday morning of the 20th of July. That’s your session. We’ve got a solid 10ft of NNW swell hitting the point. The combined energy is a massive 1036, which is very strong. The winds are clean and cross-off from the N at 16 mph. This is big, powerful groundswell. The period is 8 seconds, so it’s a short-period, powerful windswell/groundswell mix – it’ll be punchy and a bit sectiony, but a point break like Porto Batel can handle that. This size is for experienced surfers only; anyone else needs to sit this one out. It’s a proper, powerful, clean run of waves. After that, we stay big through to the end of the forecast, with the 21st and 22nd still pumping at 8ft with strong energy (1108 and 1176) and clean offshores. The crowds at Porto Batel can be there sometimes, so expect some local knowledge out, but the quality on offer is hard to ignore.

So, the call is simple: forget the first ten days. The highlight, and the only real standout, is Monday morning the 20th of July at Porto Batel. It’s big, it’s clean, and it’s got some serious energy. Be ready, be smart, and respect the size. Water temp is around 65°F, which is about 2°F cooler than normal for this time of year, so nothing crazy, just a bit of a nip in the air.

Stay safe, and I'll see you in the water when it turns on.

Rusty

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