Praia das Macas Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's cooking at Praia das Macas over the next couple of weeks. It's a bit of a slow burn, but there’s one really solid window if you know when to go.

Right out of the gate, it’s looking pretty grim. We’ve got a few days of nothing but wind-affected junk. It kicks off on Thursday the 27th with a messy, onshore W swell around 8ft and a short, weak period of 7 seconds. The combined energy is moderate at best (574), but with a fresh cross-onshore wind it’s just lumpy and poor. Not worth paddling out.

The real standout shows up on the morning of Friday the 28th. This is the one to circle on the calendar. The wind swings to a glassy offshore from the N, and we get a clean 8ft groundswell from the WNW with a proper 11-second period. The energy jumps right up to strong (1277). This is excellent, clean surf for experienced surfers. It’s a bit solid at that size, so maybe leave the foamie at home unless you’re feeling confident. For a point break setup like this, that long period will really wrap in nicely.

Sadly, that clean window is short-lived. By Friday afternoon the wind turns cross-onshore again, and the quality drops. The rest of that week and into the start of September stays in the poor-to-marginal category. We get a lot of moderate to fresh cross-onshore breezes ruining what could be decent swell. The waves stay around the 3ft to 5ft mark, but the energy never really fires up again (mostly hovering between 170 and 547 – weak to moderate), and the choppy conditions kill the ride.

We hit a real flat spot from about the 5th of September into the middle of the month. The swell drops under 3ft and the energy gets weak. There’s a fleeting moment on the morning of Tuesday the 8th of September where it goes totally glassy, with 3ft from the NW, and the energy is low (140). It’s surfable, but honestly, it’s very ordinary. Not worth a special trip. Then the 9th and 10th of September tease us with a bit of a longer-period WNW swell (12 seconds), but the size is just too small (3ft) to do much with. The energy stays weak (200-311).

Overall, it’s a lean run. The only real stand-out is that Friday the 28th morning session. After that, it’s a long stretch of waiting for the wind to play nice and for the swell to have a bit more push. If you’re a true beginner, you might find a knee-high wave on the 8th or 10th when it’s clean, but don’t get your hopes up for anything epic. The fact that Praia das Macas is a consistent spot usually keeps the mood optimistic, but this 16-day window is mostly about patience. Forecasts can change though.

Rusty.

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