Praia de Fora Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s look at what we’ve got.

Honestly, the next 16 days at Praia de Fora are a bit of a struggle. It’s going to be a long, quiet run with a lot of small, unexciting surf, so temper your expectations. The best bet comes early, but after that, it’s mostly about finding a window.

The standout session is Thursday morning, August 13th. We’ve got a tiny but clean 2ft swell from the southeast, with a very long 16-second period. That long period means the waves will have some shape and push for their size, and with glassy conditions and calm wind, it’ll be smooth as butter. The combined swell energy is weak (121), but for a small day, that’s about right. It’s an exposed spot, so it catches everything. Water temperature is about average for the time of year and you’ll want to grab this early before the afternoon wind comes up from the SSE, turning it cross-onshore and messy. Crowds might pop up for these clean little ones.

Friday morning, August 14th, is worth a look too. Another 2ft SE swell, still a very long 15-second period, and glassy conditions again (82 energy). It’s a repeat of the day before – small, clean, and fun for a longboard or a fish. The afternoon gets onshore and drops off.

From Saturday, August 15th, things get tough. A bigger, short-period (8 seconds) swell tries to build, but the wind swings ENE at 12 mph creating a cross-shore chop. The energy is weak to moderate (92), but the quality is poor. This trend of messy, small, or onshore wind continues all the way through to the end of the third week of August. We get a bit of a pulse on Monday afternoon, August 17th, with a 5ft E swell and a 9-second period, moderate energy (560), but it’s cross-onshore and a little rippled. At that size, it’s still manageable for intermediates, but not clean. The following days are mostly blown out or tiny.

By the time we hit the last week of August, it’s slim pickings. There’s a small window on Monday morning, August 24th, with a glassy 2ft SE swell (63 energy) and a 10-second period – surfable but ordinary. Then Tuesday morning, August 25th, a 4ft E swell (121 energy) with a short 6-second period arrives with clean cross-offshore wind. It’s not a standout, but it’s the last little hiccup of something before the forecast drops off again into really small, weak surf for the final days.

Overall, we’ve got a pretty long gap of unexciting surf after the first few days. If you’re a kitesurfer, the onshore winds and moderate chop from the 15th onward might be more interesting than paddle surfing. For the rest of us, grab the Thursday or Friday glassy windows, or wait for the Tuesday morning pulse on the 25th.

Rusty.

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