Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s shaping up for your local stretch.

Honestly, for the next couple of weeks, we’re dealing with a tough run. The water temp at Praia das Macas is sitting at 69°, which is about 0.7° cooler than usual for this time of year – nothing wild, just your average late-summer chill.

Starting off, the outlook is pretty bleak. There’s no real surf worth paddling out for right now. The first few days are a write-off. We’ve got a tiny bit of energy on the charts, but the conditions are just plain poor. It’s not until the morning of Wednesday the 19th that we see the first glimmer of something surfable, and even then, it’s pretty average.

For that Wednesday morning, you’re looking at a small 3-foot swell out of the NNW, with a short period of 7 seconds. The combined energy is weak (106). But the wind is light and from the south, giving us a clean, cross-off breeze. The water will be clean, but the waves themselves are just ordinary – not worth getting too excited about.

The real story here is the wind. From Thursday the 20th all the way through to the end of the forecast period, we’re stuck with cross-on winds, mostly from the NNW. That onshore wind just ruins the surface, making it lumpy and choppy. The swell does build up significantly. From Friday the 21st through to Sunday the 23rd, we see some proper size, with 7-foot to 8-foot waves. The energy gets strong – hitting over 1000 (1031) on the Sunday morning. But it’s paired with 19-22 mph cross-on winds, creating fresh cross-onshore and lumpy surf. That’s not paddle-surf conditions; that’s more of a kite-surfing setup if you ask me. The period stays short for most of it, under 10 seconds, which adds to the chop.

There is a bit of a swell direction change later on. By Friday the 28th, we start seeing a slight shift to the NW with a period creeping up to 10 seconds. The size stays in the 5-foot to 6-foot range, with combined energy in the moderate to strong range (392 to 591). But again, it’s all compromised by the strong, cross-shore, and cross-on winds. The Saturday of the 29th and Sunday the 30th brings the worst of it, with a strong breeze of 25 mph making it messy.

Monday the 2nd of September sees the winds finally drop back to a gentle breeze, but the swell is back down to 4-foot and the wind is still coming from the wrong direction, giving us a cross-on flow.

So what’s the standout? Honestly, there isn’t one. The only semi-clean window is that Wednesday morning the 19th, but it’s for tiny, weak waves. For the rest of the 16 days, you’ve got plenty of swell, but it’s blown out. This is a good example of why we don’t take consistency for granted – when the wind is this persistent on the wrong angle, it can make a promising swell chart a total bust. Keep your eyes on the forecasts, though – sometimes a small change in wind direction can flip it all around.

Stay patient.

Rusty.

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