Prainha Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, this is Rusty.

Well, we’re looking at a pretty quiet start to the outlook, with not much to get excited about for the first week and a half. The water’s running a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting around 68°, which is a nice thing but doesn’t help the surf much.

We kick off Thursday afternoon, 6 August, with tiny 2ft waves at Prainha, coming from the east with a short 8-second period. The wind is light from the northeast, but the surf is poor and the energy is weak (62). Not worth paddling out. Friday morning, 7 August, is still small at 2ft, but the wind turns light southwest, cross-offshore, so there’s a chance for a few ordinary waves. The energy’s still low (66). By Friday afternoon, the wind swings southeast and picks up to 25 km/h, turning cross-onshore and choppy – the surf’s gone. Saturday, 8 August, sees a long-period southeast groundswell at 2ft with a 15-second period, but it’s cross-on with light northeast winds and the energy is moderate (184). The small size and onshore angle make it a no-go. Sunday, 9 August, stays poor with a messy cross-shore chop and moderate energy (224) by the afternoon, but nothing clean.

Monday, 10 August, and Tuesday, 11 August, offer tiny 1–2ft waves with clean conditions thanks to a light to moderate south-southwest cross-offshore breeze, but the energy’s weak (around 68–98). These are ordinary, barely surfable days. Wednesday, 12 August, is the first glimmer – morning sees a gentle offshore from the WSW at 2ft with a 13-second period and moderate energy (135). By afternoon, it turns glassy – dead calm with a light ESE breeze, 2ft, 14-second period, and building energy (188). The sets will be clean and lined up, albeit small. That’s your best bet in the first week: a quiet, uncrowded session with some long-period, glassy runners.

Thursday, 13 August, holds small clean waves (1–2ft) but nothing to write home about. Then Friday, 14 August, through Sunday, 16 August, we see a jump in size – 4ft to 7ft – but the wind is onshore or cross-onshore from the southeast and east, blowing hard at times (25–30 km/h). The energy ramps up (248 to 980), but the chop and bump make it absolutely poor. Not worth the drive. Monday, 17 August, morning turns glassy again with a light southwest breeze and 4ft waves, 8-second period, but the energy is moderate (190) – ordinary but rideable.

Now, the standout period arrives on Tuesday, 18 August. The early morning session at Prainha cranks up to 8ft from the east with a 9-second period, cross-offshore south winds at 15 km/h, and a whopper combined energy of 1251 – that’s strong wave energy. This is excellent surf for the experienced crew. For the experts, this is the one. The water is glassy clean, the swell is solid, but at that size it’s too much for beginners. By Tuesday afternoon, it backs off to 5ft but turns glassy again with north winds, offering good waves for a broader range. Wednesday, 19 August, keeps firing with 5ft waves, a 10-second period, cross-offshore light south breezes in the morning, and glassy east winds in the afternoon. Energy stays strong (475 and 432). That’s two days of quality in a row. After that, Thursday, 20 August, drops to 3ft and goes glassy in the morning – still clean, but much smaller with moderate energy (150). From then on, it fades right off into tiny, poor conditions for the rest of the outlook.

So, if you’re a competent surfer, book in for the morning of Tuesday, 18 August, and the following day. That’s the real highlight: solid east swell, clean cross-offshore wind, and strong energy. Prainha is a consistent, advanced wave, so expect a crowd – it’s got “sometimes” crowd levels, but for that quality, a few others will be out.

Rusty.

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