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Foz do Lizandro surf forecast
Kiwi reads Foz do Lizandro four times a day and tells you the hour worth paddling out for. Free, hour by hour, in plain words.
When to paddle out at Foz do Lizandro
Today and tomorrow hour by hour from 05:00 to 21:00, then every 3 hours for two more days, rated 1 to 5 stars. Green-outlined rows are each day's best window.
08:00–11:00 · offshore
Today 31 Oct
Too big and heavy for this spot, stay out.
Every hour, 05–21
Tide and daylight
- High
- 05:46 3.4 m
- Low
- 12:12 1.3 m
- High
- 18:28 3.1 m
- Sunrise
- 07:02
- Sunset
- 17:38
Tomorrow 1 Nov
Too big and heavy for this spot, stay out.
Every hour, 05–21
Tide and daylight
- Low
- 00:30 1.5 m
- High
- 06:56 3.3 m
- Low
- 13:32 1.4 m
- High
- 19:49 3.0 m
- Sunrise
- 07:04
- Sunset
- 17:37
Monday 2 Nov
Worth it 14-16, fair head-high, cross-onshore NW.
Best window: 14:00–16:00
Every 3 hours
Tide and daylight
- Low
- 01:51 1.7 m
- High
- 08:16 3.2 m
- Low
- 14:59 1.5 m
- High
- 21:16 3.0 m
- Sunrise
- 07:05
- Sunset
- 17:36
Tuesday 3 Nov
Worth it 08-11, clean chest-shoulder, offshore E.
Kiwi's best shot: 08:00–11:00
Every 3 hours
Tide and daylight
- Low
- 03:20 1.7 m
- High
- 09:39 3.3 m
- Low
- 16:16 1.5 m
- High
- 22:30 3.1 m
- Sunrise
- 07:06
- Sunset
- 17:35
Forecast point: Foz do Lizandro (38.942° N, 9.416° W). Waves = estimated breaking height at the beach. Data: Open-Meteo wave and weather models (CC BY 4.0), corrected on buoys. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (DOI 10.48670/moi-00043). Surf at your own risk.
Smaller is better here. Foz is at its easiest from about waist to head high. As the swell grows it turns messy and the currents get strong, and above 2.5 metres Kiwi says stay out. An east wind is offshore.
Foz do Lizandro and its neighbours
The biggest beach in Mafra sits in a valley between cliffs, with the Rio Lizandro running out at its south end. It is sand from the river to the middle of the beach and turns to flat reef under the northern cliff. The river feeds and shifts the sandbanks, so the peaks move from one season to the next.
Foz do Lizandro
BeginnersSurf schoolsReef at the north endThe river end. By the river mouth there is usually a left. When the banks line up it can run long and hollow (one guide has seen good lefts of about 100 m there): a good-day wave for good surfers, not the learner zone.
The middle. A-frame peaks with lefts and rights over sand, though one guide notes the middle peak does not always work. One guide puts the learner-friendly stretch at about 250 m of sand between the river and the first reefs.
The north end. Under the cliff the sand turns to flat reef: Lage dos Tubos, a short right with a shallow take-off, and further on Limipicos, a right over sharper reef that only handles up to about 1.5 m. Both want mid to high tide. Learning? Don't drift north past the first cliffs: the bottom turns to rock.
São Julião
Next beach southMore swellA long beach break that picks up more swell than Foz, so it often has something on the smallest days, but it maxes out and is wind-sensitive. No bridge crosses the river mouth: go round by road over the EN247 bridge, about 0.8 km inland.
Praia do Sul (Baleia)
Town beachSand and rockEriceira's southern town beach, a mix of sand and rocks and a bit punchier than Foz. It is somewhat sheltered from the north wind, but one guide says it is usually flat in summer and needs more swell.
Pedra Branca and the reserve
ExpertsReefNorth of town the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve begins at Praia da Empa, about 4 km up the coast, and from there it is all reef: Pedra Branca is a fast, hollow left over a shallow reef for experts, then Reef, Ribeira d'Ilhas and Coxos. Foz itself lies outside the reserve, to the south.
What Foz do Lizandro needs to fire
These are the exact rules behind Kiwi's rating for this spot. Every hour of the forecast is scored on all four, then turned into a rating of 1 to 5 stars.
Swell
West-southwest to north-west, 9 s or longer
The beach faces west (the line in the dial), and swell from 250° to 310° walks straight in. Guides disagree on the best direction: some prefer south-west, others north-west. One says south-west swells favour the lefts and north-west swells bring more A-frames. Kiwi's score rises with the period, with full marks from about 13 s.
Wind
Offshore from the east
Wind from about 55° to 125° (north-east to south-east) blows offshore. Under 6 km/h Kiwi calls it glassy. Light shades on the dial are cross-offshore: still fine. One guide says the cliffs shelter the river-mouth left from a southerly.
Tide
Low to mid
Kiwi's rating leans to the lower half of the tide. Guides disagree: some say low to mid, others most of the tide, steeper towards low and softer towards high, and one says the very top of the tide is the weakest. In the end the sandbanks decide.
Size
Best at 0.9 to 1.8 metres
It starts to work from about half a metre. Above 1.8 metres it gets messy and rippy, and over 2.5 metres Kiwi says stay out.
Kiwi's shortcut: a small to mid-size swell from the west or north-west, an east wind and the lower half of the tide. When those line up, the green-outlined rows show up in the table above.
The best months to surf Foz do Lizandro
We replayed Kiwi's rating on every day from January 2025 to October 2026 and counted how often Foz do Lizandro's best window reached 4 or 5 stars.
Sep · Oct · NovBest in September and October
October was Foz do Lizandro's best month in the replay: the best window reached 4 or 5 stars on 22% of days and 3 or more on 45%. September came next (13%). November is bigger and rougher, down to 3%.
Dec · Jan · FebMostly too big
Winter swells usually swamp a beach break like this: the typical size at the day's best window was 4.1 m, past the 2.5 m where Kiwi says stay out, and only 12% of winter days reached 3 stars.
Mar · Apr · MayComing back into range
The swell eases through spring, from about 3.1 m in March to 1.8 m in May at the best window. Days with 3 stars or more went from 18% in March to 34% in May.
Jun · Jul · AugSmall and friendly: learning season
Summer is small but often surfable: 37% of summer days had 3 stars or more, the highest of any season. Go early: the best window started before 11:00 on 84% of summer days.
Before you go
Lifeguards, rips and the river
Lifeguards are on duty in the bathing season (13 June to 13 September in 2026), with the SOS Praia alert system, and in 2026 Mafra also ran a daily patrol until 30 October.
Rips get strong as the swell picks up, especially at the river end, and the river itself can run fast. One surfer's advice: paddle out on the north side and walk back up the beach rather than fight the current. Jornal de Mafra reports that the council added rescue drones here for 2026, naming Foz and Ribeira d'Ilhas its two beaches with the most incidents. Emergencies: 112.
Water quality
APA graded the sea side 'excellent' and the river side 'good' for 2025, with no advisory days that season. The sea side holds the Blue Flag for 2025 and 2026 and holds Quercus's Gold Quality award for 2026.
All past problems were on the river side (bathing was advised against in 2018 and banned in September 2023). After heavy rain, APA says the river can carry pollution onto the beach for a day or two, so skip the river-mouth water then.
The yellow-warning rule
Easy to miss: the Cascais captaincy, which covers Ericeira, bans surfing whenever IPMA has a yellow or higher sea-state warning out, and only allows it from sunrise until one hour before sunset. Recognised professionals, high-performance athletes and club athletes with a federation licence and a qualified coach are exempt.
In the bathing season this is an official bathing beach, so surfing is only allowed between 150 and 300 m from the shore and in marked corridors.
Schools and who it suits
Guides call Foz good for beginners and intermediates on smaller days, and Mafra council's surf map rates it 'moderate'. The sand and small waves make it a favourite with schools: Na Onda runs a school and rental at the start of the boardwalk.
By our count, the surf federation's registry has about 36 operators with an Ericeira-area address. A few of them, in no order: Ericeira Surf Clube, Tiago Pires Surf School, Ericeira Surf School, Surf Riders & Co, Waves & Lines, Boardculture, Sea Krew.
Getting there without a car
- From Lisboa Campo Grande, express bus 2801 reaches Ericeira bus terminal in 44 to 50 min (23 runs on weekdays, 3 a day at weekends).
- Line 1633 (Ericeira to Portela de Sintra, every day) stops at 'En 247 6 (X) Foz Lizandro', about 370 m from the beach; weekday lines 2133 and 2625 stop there too.
- In summer 2026 (4 July to 31 August) the beach bus 2123 started by the beach and ran every hour to Ribeira d'Ilhas through Ericeira.
- On foot from Ericeira: about 20 minutes.
Driving and parking
About 40 to 50 minutes from Lisbon on the A8 and A21 (about €3 of tolls each way in 2026). From Ericeira take the EN247 coast road south and turn down to the beach.
The car park is big (planned for about 350 cars) and a height barrier keeps motorhomes out. It has long been free; one publisher mentions a summer charge, so check on arrival.
Crowds
It gets busy: a few surfers on weekdays and many at weekends, and in July and August the water fills with school groups and bodyboarders by mid-morning. The beach is big, and one guide says the sandbanks spread people out and sends better surfers to the Limipicos reef to get away from the learners.
The river
Behind the beach the calm Lizandro is popular for stand-up paddle tours, and families use the river side in summer. It is a separate official bathing water. Watch for current and tide, check for posted advisories, and skip it after heavy rain.
Facilities
An accessible beach with an amphibious chair. Changing rooms, toilets and showers, a first-aid post, and bars and restaurants along the raised boardwalk.
Water and wetsuit
About 14 to 15 °C in late winter and 17 to 18 °C from late summer into autumn. The summer nortada can pull cold water up along the coast, so even August can feel fresh.
Typical advice: a 4/3 mm with boots in winter, a 3/2 in summer.
Webcams
KiwiSurf has no camera of its own yet. MEO Beachcam runs a public cam at Foz do Lizandro, and surf-forecast.com lists a cam page for the spot.
Where the numbers come from
The method
Kiwi starts from Open-Meteo's wave models (off Ericeira: ECMWF WAM, Météo-France, NOAA's GFS-Wave and Open-Meteo's own best-match blend) and corrects them with a model trained on past forecasts against Instituto Hidrográfico buoys, before anything else happens.
Then each hour at Foz do Lizandro is scored on the four rules above (swell, wind, tide, size) and calibrated so that 4 stars here mean the same as 4 stars at Guincho.
What we can prove
Measured on 30 days the model never trained on (29 September to 28 October 2026) at two coastal buoys and three airport weather stations. Not every week is better: in the last 7 days of that test, with big October swells, waves were 6% worse.
There is no buoy at Foz do Lizandro (the nearest buoy we test against is the Nazaré coastal buoy, about 70 km north), so the size at the beach is our model's estimate, not a measurement. See the full accuracy test.
Foz do Lizandro surf questions
What is the surf like at Foz do Lizandro today?
Kiwi's 07:56 run gives Foz do Lizandro 1/5 stars today: Too big and heavy for this spot, stay out. Waves 1.9–2.6 m, 12 s swell from the WNW, wind offshore ENE 10 km/h, tide high falling. The table above has today and tomorrow hour by hour from 05:00 to 21:00 and the two days after every 3 hours.
Is Foz do Lizandro good for beginners?
Yes, on smaller days. It is sand, the schools teach here, and guides rate it good for beginners and intermediates; Mafra council's surf map calls it 'moderate'. Stay in the middle of the beach: the river end gets rippy with size and the north end turns to reef.
What wind, swell and tide work at Foz do Lizandro?
An east wind is offshore. Guides say it takes swells from south-west round to north-west (Kiwi's window is 250° to 310°), and Kiwi rates it best in small to mid-size surf, about 0.9 to 1.8 m. Kiwi's rating leans to the lower half of the tide; guides disagree, from low to mid only to most of the tide.
When is the best time of year to surf Foz do Lizandro?
In Kiwi's replay of 2025 and 2026, October was the best month (22% of days at 4 or 5 stars), then September (13%). Summer is small but often fine for learning (37% of summer days had 3 stars or more), and winter is usually too big here.
Is Foz do Lizandro dangerous?
It is one of the gentler spots around Ericeira, but not risk-free. Rips get strong as the swell grows, especially by the river mouth, and the river can run fast. Under the north cliff the bottom turns to reef. On land, APA rates the cliff risk as moderate.
Is the water clean at Foz do Lizandro?
The sea side was graded 'excellent' for 2025 and has the Blue Flag and Quercus's Gold Quality award for 2026; the river side was graded 'good'. After heavy rain the river can carry pollution onto the beach for a day or two, so skip the river-mouth water then.
Can you swim in the river at Foz do Lizandro?
Families do in summer, and the river is an official bathing water, but sources disagree on how safe it is: some warn of currents and a muddy bottom. Watch the current and tide, check for posted advisories, and skip it after heavy rain.
Is parking free at Foz do Lizandro?
The big car park beside the beach has long been free. One publisher mentions a summer charge and we found no council notice either way, so check on arrival. A height barrier keeps motorhomes out.
How do I get to Foz do Lizandro without a car?
Is Foz do Lizandro part of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve?
It lies just south of it. Mafra council defines the reserve as the coast from Praia da Empa to São Lourenço, north of town, which starts about 4 km north of Foz. Some guides count Foz in; the council's definition does not.
Is there a surf cam at Foz do Lizandro?
Not from KiwiSurf yet. MEO Beachcam has a public cam here, and surf-forecast.com lists a cam page for the spot. A cam shows you now; Kiwi tells you which hour to go.
Can I surf at Foz do Lizandro during a sea warning?
Not during a yellow or higher IPMA sea-state warning. The Cascais captaincy, which covers Ericeira, bans surfing then, except for recognised professionals, high-performance athletes and licensed club athletes with a qualified coach. It also only allows surfing from sunrise until one hour before sunset.
What is the water temperature at Foz do Lizandro?
About 14 to 15 °C in late winter and 17 to 18 °C from late summer into autumn. Typical advice: a 4/3 mm with boots in winter and a 3/2 in summer.
How accurate is the KiwiSurf forecast?
On 30 days the model never trained on (29 September to 28 October 2026), it cut the wave height error by 8% and the wind speed error by 16% compared with raw Open-Meteo, measured at two coastal buoys and three airport weather stations. Not every week is better: in the last 7 days of that test waves were 6% worse. There is no buoy at Foz do Lizandro, so the size at the beach is an estimate.
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