Praia do Norte Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it for Praia do Norte. This is the only break on the table for this stretch, and she's a heavy one – a beach and reef setup that’s strictly for advanced surfers.

We’re looking at a long 16-day window with a real mixed bag. For the first few days, there’s a solid pulse of NNW swell on the way, with combined energy hitting some pretty strong numbers. For Saturday the 15th, the water is sitting at about 68°, which is pretty normal for this time of year, no real anomaly. But Saturday is a write-off – the wind is a messy cross-shore on the back of a fresh breeze, and the waves are lumpy and poor.

The standout window falls on Sunday the 16th. Sunday morning is the pick of the bunch. You’ve got a clean 7ft swell from the NNW with that northeast wind going glassy. The combined wave energy registers 666 – that’s a very solid push, and with those glassy conditions, it’ll be proper clean. This is the one to circle. The 7ft is getting up there, so this is for experienced crew only. Crowds are noted as "sometimes", so it might be busy, but with the wind this clean, you can’t complain.

Monday the 17th morning still looks decent. It drops slightly to a 5ft NNW swell, but again with glassy conditions from a light SE wind. The energy drops to 357, which is moderate but still punchy. Good conditions, but not quite the standout of Sunday.

After Monday morning, the wind turns onshore or cross-onshore, and things get choppy and messy right through the middle of the week. There’s a brief clean-up on the morning of Wednesday the 19th, but the swell drops to only 3ft, so it's marginal at best.

Now, towards the end of the third week of August, things start to look punchy again but wind remains the enemy. Friday the 21st sees a big spike: a 10ft NNW swell with an absolute monster energy reading of 1188 – that’s some very strong stuff. But the wind is a strong cross-shore at 25 mph, making for messy, lumpy conditions. That size is strictly for experts, but it’s likely a washing machine out there under that wind.

Sunday the 23rd onwards is a roller-coaster. Between the 23rd and the 29th, we have a run of days with poor surf conditions, mostly due to cross-shore or cross-onshore winds. There’s a slight glimmer on the morning of Wednesday the 26th, where we get a cross-offshore breeze with a 7ft NNW swell and 542 energy, labeled as "clean". That could be okay if you’re a local who knows the bank, but don’t expect perfection.

The tail end of the forecast into the 30th gets small, with a 4ft swell and a period down to 6 seconds. That’s short-period, weak energy (93), and the whole thing looks poor. That’s a surf-drought scenario.

So, overall, the real takeaway is Sunday morning, the 16th of August. That’s your best bet. Get out there early for the glassy 7ft NW groundswell. Monday morning the 17th is a solid backup. Beyond that, it’s a lot of waiting for the wind to play nice, with the 26th morning being the only other remote possibility in the second week.

Stay safe and keep an eye on that swell.

Rusty.

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