Praia da Barra Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be honest about the next couple of weeks at Praia da Barra. This is a sandbar set-up that rarely breaks, and the outlook is a waiting game. The first real sniff of anything decent doesn’t come around until Thursday the 20th, so we’re looking at a solid two-week gap of just about nothing.

First two weeks: A write-off
For the entire first week and into the second, we’re dealing with poor surf conditions. The energy is all over the place, with combined swell energy mostly in the low to mid hundreds (between 102 and 323), which is weak to moderate. Swell heights are tiny, mostly under 3ft, and the wind is almost always a cross-onshore mess from the NW or NNW. Even on the few mornings like Friday the 7th and Thursday the 13th when it goes glassy, the swell is too small and weak to get excited about—just surfable but very ordinary. The one slight pulse around Saturday the 15th sees the swell push to 5ft, but the period is a short 6 seconds and it’s blown out by cross-onshore winds. This is a beach setup, so all that short-period, wind-affected energy is just going to be a lumpy, choppy mess. Frankly, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing through most of this.

The only real window: Thursday, August 20th
Mark your calendar for Thursday morning, the 20th. That’s the one standout. We finally get a window of glassy conditions with a light NW wind. The swell is a solid 5ft from the NNW, with a period of 8 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 329 (moderate), so there’s some push. The conditions are described as "good surf conditions," which is the only time we see that. This is a sandbar break that’s *rarely* breaking, so any wave is a gift. The swell direction is NNW, which is a bit off the optimum W direction, but the glassy wind will make it clean. This swell is big enough for intermediates but not too big for a confident beginner. The afternoon, however, turns messy again with a cross-onshore, so it’s a morning-only proposition.

The water temperature is sitting at 68°F, which is about normal for this time of year, so a spring suit will be fine.

So, the long and short of it: there’s two weeks of pure frustration, then a single, promising glassy morning to salvage the whole run. It’s a gamble, but that’s how it goes at a spot that rarely turns on.

Rusty.

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