Viana do Castelo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Righto, let’s talk about Viana do Castelo. The next couple of weeks are pretty bleak for surf. There’s a massive gap of flatness and tiny waves before we get anything worth paddling out for. The river mouth setup (Portugal) needs a decent push of swell and clean conditions, and that just isn’t happening for a while.

The water is sitting at 70° – that’s much warmer than normal for this time of year, a solid 5° above average, so you won’t need a thick wettie.

The first day we see any real glimmer is Monday, 27th July. It’s not a standout, but it’s the best we get for the whole first week. Early morning, we’ve got a 4ft swell coming from the NNW with a 10-second period. The combined energy is moderate at 339, and the glassy conditions are a major positive – no wind, surf will be clean. The direction is a bit off-optimum for the break (which likes westerly), but for a river mouth, that longer period groundswell might create some shape. It’s fairly consistent, but crowds can be a thing here. This is the real highlight of the entire 16-day window.

Beyond that, we’re stuck with small, weak surf below 3ft for days, and messy winds. Thursday 30th and Friday 31st mornings show some glassy windows with tiny 1ft and 2ft waves – barely rideable, ordinary at best. The energy is weak, in the 50-70 range.

After a long dry spell, we get a late pulse on Friday morning, 7th August. A 4ft swell from the NNW with a short 6-second period and combined energy of 232 – moderate. Glassy again early, so that’ll be clean. The short period means it’s not going to hold shape well, but for a bit of fun, it’s the second-best option. However, that same afternoon sees the swell jump to 6ft with a 7-second period and 341 energy – that’s borderline messy, and short-period waves over 5ft start to push into too-big-for-beginners territory, especially with a stiff onshore breeze predicted.

Then on Sunday morning, 9th August, the swell spikes to 7ft from the NNW (423 energy), and the afternoon hits 8ft (638 energy). That’s strong energy, but with a 7-second period and strong breezes, it’s going to be a washing machine – only for experts, and even then, it looks more like a kite surfing show than a paddle session.

So, if you want the best of a poor run, get on Monday morning, 27th July. That glassy 4ft window is the only standout. Everything else is ordinary, weak, or blown out.

Rusty.

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