Portugal · Atlantic Europe
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Santa Cruz is a beach break town on Portugal's Silver Coast (Costa de Prata), north of Ericeira. The main beach faces west-northwest into the Atlantic, flanked by dramatic rock formations. It produces consistent, quality beach break waves with occasional reef influence from the rocky outcrops. Less famous than Peniche or Ericeira but delivers similar quality with fewer people. The town retains a local Portuguese character.
Picks up any north-westerly Atlantic swell. A south-easterly wind is offshore. Works on all tides with mid-tide often best. Consistent year-round. The 3-6ft range is ideal. Handles bigger swells due to the deep bay. Summer has smaller but rideable waves.
The main beach has multiple peaks. The sections near the rock formations tend to produce more defined waves from the reef influence. The sandy middle section is more straightforward. Walk the beach to identify the best banks.
Rock formations in the shallows at either end. Rip currents on bigger days. The rock sections demand awareness at lower tides. Sandy bottom through the middle is forgiving.
Pay car park above the beach. Steps and paths down to the sand. The town has facilities including restaurants and a few surf-related businesses. Less developed than the main tourist spots.
Quieter than Ericeira or Peniche. Santa Cruz serves a smaller local community. Good days see 10-20 people. The relative obscurity keeps numbers manageable. A friendly, local atmosphere.
Santa Cruz is the insider's option between Ericeira and Peniche. Similar wave quality, significantly fewer people. The town has authentic Portuguese restaurants with local prices. The rock formations (especially Penedo do Guinchoat) create dramatic scenery and interesting wave patterns. Combine with Ericeira (20 minutes south) for variety.
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Based on historical weekly averages
Combining historical conditions with school holiday crowd pressure to find the sweet spot.
How busy each week is based on school holiday overlap from feeder markets.
The timing score combines two signals: historical conditions quality (how good the skiing or surfing typically is in a given week, based on 5 years of weather data) and crowd pressure (how many of this destination's feeder markets have school holidays that week).
Crowd pressure is weighted by each feeder country's share of visitors. If 40% of a resort's visitors come from France and France is on holiday, that contributes 0.40 to the crowd pressure score. Crowds can reduce the timing score by up to 35%, ensuring conditions still matter most.
Scores: 5 = great conditions with low crowds (the sweet spot). 4 = great conditions with moderate crowds, or good conditions with low crowds. 3 = average. 2 = below average conditions or very crowded. 1 = poor conditions or peak holiday chaos.
Last 28 days of logged conditions.
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Create Profile →Current conditions refresh every 3 hours when the cron runs. Hourly data updates every 30 minutes. The 7-day forecast, luck factor, and packing notes are all pre-computed at the same time.
We compare the 7-day forecast to the last 5 years of marine data for the same week at Santa Cruz. The delta tells you whether conditions are shaping up better, worse, or about the same as a typical mid-June.
We score each day of the 7-day forecast using the same algorithm as the leaderboard, and highlight the highest scorer.
Open-Meteo's Marine API (swell height, period, water temperature) and Weather API (wind and conditions).
Honestly, no. Every break has tide windows, swell directions and reef contours that a global model cannot see. Treat the score as a starting point, then check a local cam.
The best week for surf at Santa Cruz is the week of 16 November (score 3/5) with low crowds.
Not much swell but keen eyes will find something to ride. Short-period wind swell: expect weak, crumbly faces. Slight cross-shore ripple. Nothing to worry about. Best conditions early morning before the sea breeze arrives.
Heads up: rip risk elevated, and jellyfish: high.
Indicators derived from forecast data, not official warnings. Always check local lifeguard or official advice.
Moderate water clarity: ~4m visibility
Daily scores over the last 12 months at Santa Cruz