Porto Batel Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, listen up, crew. Rusty here. We’ve got a bit of a waiting game on our hands for Porto Batel. The next week and a half is pretty much a write-off, so don’t be in a rush to paddle out. Hold tight.

The first half of the 16-day window is dominated by strong, onshore winds and messy, poor surf. The water is sitting at 65°, which is 4° below average, real nippy for this time of year – a lot colder than you’d expect. This bleak stretch runs from the 24th right through to the afternoon of the 31st. There’s a glimmer on the 28th, Friday, when the wind finally goes cross-off, and the swell from the NW gets up to 10 ft with sweet 11-second period (groundswell). The combined energy is pumping, too, at 2135 – strong stuff. That morning looks clean and the wave quality is marginal, but it’s big. At over 8 ft, this is for experienced surfers only. It’s the best in a bad run, but still just a shadow of what comes later. Friday afternoon hangs in there at 8 ft, still clean.

Things stay clean but the swell drops right off over the weekend and into Monday, with 3 ft to 4 ft waves. Not much stoke there.

Now, here is the true standout, so mark your calendar: Tuesday, 8th September. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. The morning session at Porto Batel is looking absolute mint. The wind goes glassy – dead calm at 0 mph – and the swell rolls in from the WNW at a solid 6 ft with a very long 15-second period. That’s groundswell with proper energy (combined energy at 1467), which will wrap beautifully around this exposed point break. The water will be clean as a whistle. For an exposed point, that long period means long, racy lines and wide-open walls. It’s rated excellent for experienced surfers, and for good reason. This is the one to aim for.

After that, the afternoon shifts onshore, so get it while it’s good. The day prior, the 7th, also shows a promising morning with a light breeze and clean 3 ft waves, and Monday afternoon sees a long-period 23-second pulse (4 ft), but it’s the Tuesday morning glass-off that’s the real winner.

So, to sum it up: endure the junky first week, don’t even bother paddling out. A brief window of cleaner but big surf on the 28th for the experts only. Then, a long dry spell until the real gold shines through on the morning of the 8th. That’s your session.

Rusty.

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