Praia da Joaquina Alert Guide
Santa Catarina, Brazil · part of the Praia da Joaquina spot guide
Joaquina is forecast-only — no representative buoy within about 2,000 km — so the alert runs on the model, and the height below is an open-ocean reading. It holds cleanly to about 3 m.
The forecaster's checklist
- 1.Look for a swell in the southeast quadrant, around 130–160° best, with east the classic angle and a straight south losing a touch to the headland.
- 2.Want period of at least 9 to 11 seconds for the point-left.
- 3.Make sure the wind is not from the south or southeast — you want a west-to-northwest offshore, and fronts often bring a south wind behind them, so ride the leading edge.
- 4.A model height of about 1 to 2.5 m is fun-to-firing; 3 m and up is maxing and heavy.
- 5.Run on models — the nearest representative buoy is thousands of kilometres away — and check a recent bank video, since the sand shifts.
Local winds & tide
Best wind: W–NW offshore for the ESE-facing beach — from 270° to 360° (W–N).
Microtidal — the tidal range is under about a metre, a minor lever, not modelled here.
Dial it in
The dial-up: alert settings that catch it
When ALL of these line up in the 5-day forecast window, this spot is turning on.
- Open-ocean swell height
- ≥ 3 ft
- Swell period
- ≥ 9 s
- Swell direction (from)
- 120°–195° (ESE–SSW)
- Wind direction (from)
- 270°–360° (W–N)
No representative buoy on this coast — read these numbers against the 16-day spot forecast instead.