Porto da Cruz Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s talk Porto da Cruz in feet for the mainland crew. It’s a bit of a yo-yo forecast – a couple of decent days early on, then a whole lot of nothing worth your time for the rest of the window.

This Saturday, 22nd August, we’re looking at a tidy start. Winds are light and clean – from the WNW at 5 km/h, cross-off on Saturday morning, then turning glassy calm by the afternoon. Swell is from the North at around 3 ft, with a long 10-second period. That’s groundswell, and combined energy sits at 210 (moderate). The water’s about average temp for this time of year. The reef here loves that straight north swell – matches the optimum direction perfect – and with those light winds, it’ll be smooth and lined up. You can expect a few others in the water, but it won’t be jammed. Saturday morning is a touch smaller at 4 ft, but still clean. That’s your best window of the whole forecast.

Sunday, 23rd August, the swell jumps to around 8 to 8 ft from the NNW, with a 13-second period and energy skyrocketing to 1945 to 2004 – that’s strong. But the wind switches to the NW at 15 km/h, putting it on the cross. That’s going to mess up the surface a bit, making it bumpy. The morning’s a 3/10, the afternoon a 2/10 – not great quality, but if you’re a charger after some size, Sunday morning is your only shot at the bigger stuff.

Monday, 24th August, the swell backs down to about 6 ft, from the NNW and N, periods of 11 to 10 seconds, energy 878 to 784. Wind stays cross from the NW at 10 km/h. It’s surfable but marginal, with light wind ripples on the face. Scores drop to 2/10. Tuesday, 25th, the swell fades to 4 ft then 4 ft, periods shortening to 9 and then 8 seconds, energy dropping to 270. By Tuesday afternoon, it’s poor – score of 0/10.

Then from Wednesday, 26th August, all the way through to 6th September, it’s a ghost town for surf. Winds are cross-onshore or onshore from the NNE at 15-20 km/h almost every day. Swell heights hover between 2 ft and 5 ft, but with short, weak periods and combined energy often under 300 and sometimes under 100 (weak). Everything is labelled as poor surf conditions with scores of 0/10. There’s one pulse on 6th September with 5 ft from the north, 11-second period, and energy of 764 (moderate), but the wind is onshore at 20 km/h – forget it.

So listen – the real standout is Saturday, 22nd August, both morning and afternoon at Porto da Cruz. That glassy wind and that clean 3 ft northerly groundswell is as good as it gets in this forecast. Sunday has size but the wind kills the quality. Then it’s a long, empty gap with no decent waves for more than a week. Get out there on Saturday or don’t bother.

Rusty

Read more