Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the table for our local stretch.

Honestly, I gotta be straight with you – the whole 16-day window is looking pretty grim. We’ve got a long stretch of poor surf conditions and hardly anything to get excited about. The only glimmer of hope comes right at the very end, but it's a long wait.

The first real chance of anything rideable is not until Saturday, August 1st, and even then, it's marginal. We're talking a solid two-week gap before that. The rest of the time is all "poor surf conditions" with cross-onshore winds and messy, lumpy waves. The wind is mostly from the north and northwest, which is a cross-onshore direction for this break, and it's just ruining the shape of the swell.

The swell that does show up from Wednesday, July 23rd, onwards is mostly from the NW and NNW, with short periods of 6 to 8 seconds. That's windswell, not the good stuff. It'll be choppy and lack any real push. The combined energy is mostly weak to moderate (66 to 327), which isn't enough to overcome the wind. Even when the swell height gets up to a decent 5 ft to 8 ft on Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th, the wind is a strong, messy cross-onshore, making it a total write-off. For a beginner spot like Praia das Macas, that's not just bad, it's potentially dangerous for the less experienced. The water temp is about 69°, which is pretty normal for this time of year.

Now, that one nearly-not-terrible day. On Saturday, August 1st, the morning session sees a light NW breeze of 10 km/h (6 mph) blowing offshore, which is the best wind we'll see all forecast. The swell is 5 ft from the NNW with a 7-second period, and the combined energy is moderate (267). The call is "marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions." It's not a standout by any stretch, but compared to the rest of the 16 days, it's the only window where you might get a few cleanish, knee-to-waist high waves. The afternoon that same day gets ruined by the wind picking up again.

After that, it's back to poor conditions and small, weak swells through the start of August. The swell direction is shifting to the WNW with a longer period of 9 to 11 seconds, which is better for energy, but the wind is still cross-onshore and fresh, just making a mess of it. The energy is mostly moderate (113 to 238), but the wind is the spoiler.

So, there you have it. A long, dry spell with one fleeting, marginal window on the morning of August 1st. It's not much to go on, but it's all we've got.

Rusty.

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