Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board and let’s get into it. It’s a bit of a rough stretch of days ahead on the surf front. There’s swell moving through, but the wind just won’t give us a break. The whole 16-day window here looks pretty darn bleak for any proper waves. We’re looking at a long run with nothing worth paddling out for, a solid stretch of flat, messy conditions. It’s one of those times where you're better off checking the tide pools than the lineup.

The issue is every day sees cross-onshore winds, messing up what little swell there is. We'll start with this. On the morning of Thursday, August 6th, there’s a bit of energy in the water with a swell of 4ft from the NNW, but it’s an 8-second wind swell. With that 25 km/h cross-onshore wind, it’s just choppy and poor. The combined energy is weak, only rating at 228. The same goes for the afternoon, more wind, and slightly bigger, but still, it’s all over the place.

We will go through the entire period, and honestly, day after day, we see the same story. The 7th through the morning of the 8th have knee-high dribble, weak energy, and more cross-onshore junky surf. There’s a slight drop in wind on the morning of the 8th to a gentle breeze, but the swell drops too. It’s not going to do anything.

From the 9th through the 11th, there might be small pulses but they’re short-period, weak, and surf quality remains poor. The energy does pick up a bit on the 12th with some WNW swell, but it’s still cross-onshore and hopeless. By the 14th and 15th, we see a slightly bigger pulse, but it’s all short-period and blown out. On the 15th, we’ve got 5ft-5ft of slop with strong winds, not what you’d call surfable.

Then on the 17th, the wind picks up to a strong breeze, and it is messy. The following day, August 18th, brings the biggest swell of the window, around 8ft, and the energy reading is a substantial 930. But, here's the kicker: the wind is 45 km/h cross-onshore. It's a complete washing machine. This is not a surf day. In fact, this kind of setup, with big onshore swell and strong wind, looks way better for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It’s just blown out chaos.

There’s a tiny sliver of hope on the morning of August 21st. The wind actually goes cross-shore, not onshore, with a gentle breeze. But the swell is tiny – about 3ft – and short-period. The combined energy is a mere 71. It's about as weak as it gets. The afternoon might see the wind go offshore, but the swell has died completely. It's a washout.

So there you have it. For the next two weeks, there’s nothing here. This is a tough spell. But, this is a consistent break, so it usually doesn’t stay this bad for long. Forecasts can change, so keep an eye out, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Rusty.

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