Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here. Lookin' at the next 16 days for Praia das Macas, and I gotta be straight with ya – it's a tough run. The forecast is pretty much a write-off with only a few flickers of hope, and even those are more about "maybe" than "get in the car."

The whole first week, from Friday the 21st of August right through to the end of the month, is a real struggle. The wind is all over the shop – mostly cross-shore or cross-onshore, and often strong. The wave energy is moderate to strong (470 to 817), but with that wind, it's lumpy, choppy, and just plain messy. We get a couple of moments Sunday morning the 23rd where the wind is cross-off and clean, but the swell is a solid 7 ft from the W with moderate energy (985), and the combo of a risk of t-storms and a "marginal" call makes it a gamble, not a goer.

Then we hit a real dry spell. From Monday the 24th all the way through to the end of the month, the swell is there, but it's constantly blown out. The wind just won't let up. The whole outlook is "poor surf conditions" – that's the word on the street. The only tiny glimmers of hope are on Saturday the 29th morning and Monday the 31st morning, with scores of 2 out of 10. Saturday the 29th morning has a 6 ft NNW swell with moderate energy (661) and a gentle cross-shore breeze. The 31st Monday morning has a 6 ft NW swell, moderate energy (514) and a light onshore breeze, but the wind state is "unknown," which is a bit of a worry. Hardly worth paddling out for.

The first week of September doesn't look much better. A few days with some clean-ish wind, but the swell is tiny. Tuesday the 1st of September morning has a 3 ft N swell, but it's a short period (8 seconds) and low energy (216). The wind is cross-off, so it's clean, but there's no power. Wednesday the 2nd and Thursday the 3rd mornings are the same story – small, weak, and not doing much.

The best of a bad bunch looks like Thursday the 3rd of September afternoon. We get a 5 ft NW swell with a very long period of 12 seconds and strong energy (846). That's a proper groundswell. But the wind is a moderate cross-onshore, making it choppy, so it's a tease. The break is a beach, and with a long period swell like that, it'll be breaking straight and fast. Not ideal for a paddle.

After that, the wind cranks up again. The end of the forecast window on the 5th of September is a full-on blowout with strong to fresh cross-onshore winds and lumpy, messy conditions. A 8 ft swell is on offer, but it's a total mess. For the experienced boys, it might be worth a look if you're desperate, but honestly, with that wind and the beach break setup, it looks more like a kite-surfing day than a surfing one.

Look, the honest truth is there's nothing here that's a true standout. The whole 16-day window is a struggle. The break is consistent, but the conditions are not. It's a classic case of the swell being there, but the wind just won't cooperate. We're in a bit of a blank run. Don't get your hopes up too high, but keep an eye on the forecasts – they can change.

Rusty.

Read more