Saquarema (Itaúna) Surf Season
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · part of the Saquarema (Itaúna) spot guide
Winter is groundswell season. Cold fronts and extratropical lows cross the South Atlantic every week or so from May to September, each one sending south-south-west to south-east swell up the coast behind a pre-frontal north-west offshore; the Championship Tour has parked its Rio Pro in late June every year since 2019 for that reason, and August is the most consistent month. March and April open the season and October tapers it. Summer belongs to the north-east trade regime — east and north-east windswell, a south-east sea breeze in the afternoon, hot water and holiday crowds.
Water runs from about 25.6°C in March to 21.5°C in August and September — boardshorts to a springsuit — though the Cabo Frio upwelling can push cold water along this stretch in spring and summer. Crowds are heaviest in the December-to-February holidays and during the contest, when 400,000 people have filled the sand across eleven days.
Where the swell comes from
South-west Atlantic extratropical lows are the engine: cyclones spin up between Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul and the adjacent ocean, then track east and south-east with fetch around 35 to 45 degrees south, sending 11-to-15-second groundswell about 1,900 km to Saquarema in two to three days. Near-coast lows and fronts at 28 to 33 degrees south add shorter-period south swell a day away, often with their own south-west wind, and the South Atlantic high’s north-east trades supply the small east windswell of summer.
Historic swells at Saquarema (Itaúna)
Toledo’s third Saquarema title
On 21 June 2019 the Oi Rio Pro’s Round of 32 ran in surf Brazilian reports called six to eight feet — waves breaking everywhere with strong current — off a solid south-south-west swell midweek; by finals day on the 23rd it had dropped to metre-high sets with long lulls. Filipe Toledo beat Jordy Smith 18.04–8.43 for his third win in three editions here.
Italo’s hometown roar
The 2024 VIVO Rio Pro’s Round of 16 on 27 June ran in faces reported up to three metres, and the finals on the 29th in solid six-foot-plus surf; Italo Ferreira won in front of the Brazilian crowd, with Caitlin Simmers taking the women’s for the second year running.
Barrels at the final
The 19 May 2018 Oi Rio Pro final was surfed in four-to-six-foot waves with barrels on offer; Filipe Toledo beat Wade Carmichael 17.10–8.00 and Stephanie Gilmore won the women’s.