Prainha Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ll be straight with you – this 16-day window for Prainha is a tough one. We’ve got a long, bleak stretch of barely surfable days to start, then a flicker of bigger energy later on, but it’s never really gonna fire clean. The water temp’s sitting about average for this time of year, nothing unusual there.

The first real chance to get wet doesn’t come until Monday the 27th of July, and even then it’s a struggle. Monday morning brings a glassy 2ft swell from the ESE, period a short 8 seconds, and combined energy of only 50 (weak). It’s surfable but very ordinary. That’s the best we’ve got for a while. Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday the 29th are similar – Wednesday morning has another glassy 2ft from the E, but it’s still weak, low-energy stuff.

Then we hit a dry spell. From Thursday the 30th through to Tuesday the 4th of August, it’s all poor surf conditions. Wind’s either onshore or cross-onshore, swell drops to 1ft to 2ft, and energy is pathetic – mostly in the teens to fifties. Prainha is an advanced, exposed break, but with nothing to work with, it’s a paddling workout at best. There’s a brief moment Sunday morning the 2nd of August with clean offshore SW wind at 6 mph, but the swell is only 2ft from the E with a period of 6 seconds – barely a ripple.

Things finally start to breathe around Wednesday the 5th of August. Wednesday morning sees a 3ft E swell, period still short at 7 seconds, but combined energy jumps to 117 (moderate). The wind is a clean cross-offshore from the S at 12 mph. It’s still rated poor surf conditions, but that’s the most energy we’ve seen in over a week. Wednesday afternoon gets a bit more interesting: 4ft E swell, period 8 seconds, energy at 207 (moderate). Wind is a cross-shore from the SE at 9 mph, creating a slight cross-chop. It’s marginal, but for a few hours there’s enough to pick off a crumbly close-out if you’re desperate.

Thursday the 6th of August morning is the standout of the whole run. We’ve got a clean 3ft E swell with a moderate offshore WSW wind at 16 mph, energy at 140 (moderate). The water will be clean, and the offshore wind means lined-up shoulders. At 3ft, it’s fine for most surfers, but given the whole two weeks has been flat, this is the pick. Afternoon drops off a bit.

After that, it fades again. Friday the 7th is messy, Saturday the 8th has a clean 3ft E swell with light offshore W wind in the morning, energy at 137 – surfable but nothing special. Sunday the 9th is blown out with 25 mph cross-shore winds, and Monday the 10th sees a clean 2ft leftover.

Honestly, if you’re a paddle surfer, your best bet is Thursday morning the 6th of August. The rest of the two weeks is mostly a write-off. For a break this exposed, it’s been a pretty flat run.

Rusty.

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