Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right from the start, I gotta be straight with you. The next week and a half is gonna test your patience if you’re hanging out for decent waves at Praia das Macas. Swell energy is weak, winds are mostly messy, and the water’s sitting at 67°F, which is a bit colder than usual for this time of year. Not exactly firing.

We kick things off this Sunday the 23rd with a bit of lumpy, cross-off wind and some swell pushing 5.6ft, but the period is short and the energy is just not there. It’s a messy, poor surf situation, so honestly, not worth the paddle out.

Monday the 24th turns worse – that swell jumps to 7.9ft but with a short 8-second period and cross-onshore winds. It’s just lumpy, choppy, and blown out. You’d be fighting a losing battle. It stays poor into Tuesday the 25th, even though the morning glass off drops the swell to a dribbly 4.6ft. The energy is weak (208), and it’s not doing anything for me. Wednesday is flat and stormy, not even worth a mention.

We finally see a pulse on Thursday the 27th with a touch more size and a better 9-second period, but the wind is still on it, and the comments are all poor. Then Friday the 28th – now we’re talking. The swell jumps to 9.8ft from the NW with a proper 11-second groundswell and the combined energy is pumping at 1965. The wind is light. But here’s the catch, and it’s a big one – it’s too big for this break. At 9.8ft, this is expert-only territory. And that forecast note about it being too big for the break says it all. It’s a spectacle, not a surf. By the afternoon, it’s still 8.2ft and the wind is up, making it just as unsurfable for the average punter.

After that big pulse, it just fades out. Saturday the 29th drops to 6.2ft but it’s cross-shore and choppy, poor. Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st see it dropping, with the energy falling off a cliff. From the 1st of September through to the 7th, it’s a long, drawn-out stretch of onshore junk, fading swell, and weak energy. There’s a sniff of something on Monday the 7th afternoon with a 5.9ft NW swell and light wind, but the conditions notes say marginal, and it’s not enough to get excited about.

The only real standout is that Friday morning, and even then, it’s for the brave only. For most of us, this 16-day window is about finding something else to do. It’s blank, and with only one consistent break on the whole card, this kind of run is pretty normal around here. It won’t be like this forever, though. Forecasts change.

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