Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about what’s going on at Praia das Macas. First off, I gotta be straight with you—this stretch is looking pretty quiet for most of the outlook. The water’s sitting at 65°F, which is a bit colder than you’d normally expect around here, so that’s a slight sting in the air.

Right out of the gate on Tuesday morning the 14th, there’s a weak 2ft swell from the WNW with a short 6-second period. Little energy in the water, and the onshore wind from the NW is messing things up. Not worth paddling out. Tuesday afternoon drops even smaller, 1ft but with a 10-second period, still pretty limp and blown out.

Wednesday morning the 15th, there’s a silver lining. Wind goes glassy from the SW— just a light 5 km/h breeze, and it’s clean. The swell is tiny though, only 1ft from the WNW at 9 seconds, and only 42 units of energy. It’s surfable, but very weak and ordinary. Afternoon goes back to onshore and poor.

Thursday the 16th through most of the following week is a long stretch of the same story. Swells bounce between 1.0ft and 4ft, all from the NW or WNW, but the wind stays cross-onshore almost constantly. The water gets lumpy, choppy, and just generally frustrating. The only slight uptick is Sunday the 19th morning when the swell bumps to 4ft (147 units of energy at 7 seconds) but it’s still cross-onshore and messy. Not a good day for a clean session.

Then we hit a bit of a lull in the middle of the second week, with both Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th mornings offering only weak, small waves. But hold on—Sunday afternoon the 26th, there’s a sudden spike in energy, 620 units, with a swell of 3ft from the NW and a very long period of 14 seconds. That’s a proper groundswell, but the catch: wind is cross-onshore from the NNW at 15 mph, so it’s going to be choppy and messy. Still, that deepwater energy is serious, but the conditions won’t help.

Monday the 27th shapes up as the strongest in terms of size and energy. Morning sees 5ft from the NW at 11 seconds, huge 763 units of combined energy, but the fresh cross-onshore wind from the NNW at 22 mph means lumpy, blown-out waves. By afternoon it’s 5ft and 650 units, but the wind picks up to 25 mph—even messier. Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday the 29th follow the same pattern: solid 5ft and 6ft swells (505 and 550 energy units), but cross-onshore winds are just too strong, 22 to 25 mph, making it rough out there. At 5ft to 6ft with those winds, it’s really more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle-surfing dream.

So if I’m being honest, the only standout window is Wednesday morning the 15th—glassy conditions, tiny surf, but at least it’s clean. For the rest, it’s a lot of waitin’ and hopin’ the wind turns. Best bet for size lovers is Monday the 27th through Wednesday the 29th, but brace yourself for the wind chop.

Stay patient, keep an eye on the forecast, and hope for a shift.

Rusty

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