Saquarema (Itaúna) Swell Window
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · part of the Saquarema (Itaúna) spot guide
- Swell window (from)
- 100°–240° (E–WSW)
- Best direction
- ~160° (SSE)
- Period sweet spot
- 11–15 s
- Open-ocean height (Hs)
- 3–10 ft
- Resulting faces
- 2–13 ft
Open-ocean vs. the face: the heights on buoys and forecast models are significant wave height (Hs) in deep water. What you ride is the breaking face, which depends on period, direction and this break's bathymetry — that's why the two rows above differ. PierMonkey's spot ratings already do this conversion for you.
The window runs from east-south-east round to south-west — about 100 to 240 degrees — with the core from south-east to south-south-west, 135 to 215. East-south-east through south is the angle that focuses energy on the Point left; south-west to south-south-west arrives at a grazing angle for the left and lights up the Barrinha right instead. East windswell keeps it rideable in summer but rarely great. Groundswell here runs 11 to 15 seconds; the longer it is, the more the bank wedges.
The face runs about honest to the open-ocean number on short-period swell and modestly above it — roughly 1.15 to 1.3 times — on mid- and long-period groundswell, thanks to the short shelf and the refraction off the rock shelf. It works from about two feet and the Point holds to around thirteen; above that it turns into a shifting wall.