Vale do Lobo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, I’m gonna give it to ya straight about Vale do Lobo over the next 16 days. And, well, it’s a tough one. There’s a long, dry spell right from the start – Tuesday, July 7th – all the way through to Saturday, July 18th. That’s almost two weeks where the surf is flat-out poor. The waves are tiny, mostly 0.6ft to 1ft, and when there’s a little bump, the wind usually messes it up, blowin’ straight onshore or cross-onshore, makin’ everything lumpy and choppy.

To be fair, there are a few glassy mornings in there – Thursday the 9th, Friday the 10th, Saturday the 11th, Sunday the 12th and Monday the 13th all start off with no wind – but the swell is way too small and weak to surf. The combined wave energy barely gets past 20 (like 16 or 20), so it’s real weak.

Water temp is a touch warmer than usual for the season, around 72°F.

After that long wait, Sunday, July 19th, finally gives us a little somethin’. It’s the only day that gets called “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions”. That morning, we might see a weak 2ft swell from the west, with an 8-second period and a combined energy of 40 – still weak, but it’s the best we’ve got. The wind is a light NNW breeze blowin’ cross-offshore, so it’ll be clean. It’s not gonna be epic, but if you’re itchin’ for any wave at all, that’s your chance. After that, it’s right back to the same story of small, choppy slop.

Vale do Lobo is a fairly consistent, exposed beginner beach break that prefers a WSW swell. But the swells we get don’t match that direction at all, and they’re just too small. For all those days of weak, messy conditions on a beach setup, honestly, this looks way more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

So, bottom line: you’ve got nearly two weeks of nothin’ worth paddlin’ for, then one morning on Sunday the 19th that’s *just* okay. Keep the board in the car, but don’t get your hopes up.

Rusty.

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