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Ribeira d'Ilhas surf forecast
Kiwi reads Ribeira d'Ilhas 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 Ribeira d'Ilhas
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.
08:00–09:00 · offshore
Today 31 Oct
Go 08-09, clean overhead, offshore E.
Kiwi's best shot: 08:00–09:00
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
Go 08-11, clean overhead, offshore ESE.
Best window: 08:00–11:00
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
Go 08-11, clean overhead, glassy.
Best window: 08:00–11:00
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 08-10, clean chest-shoulder, offshore E.
Best window: 08:00–10:00
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: Ribeira d'Ilhas (38.988° N, 9.419° W). Waves = estimated breaking height at the spot. 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.
Mornings win here. The summer nortada from the north blows hardest in the afternoon, and one guide says the easterly land breeze usually holds until late morning. Check the wind column first, then the tide.
Ribeira d'Ilhas and its neighbours
Ribeira d'Ilhas sits where a small stream reaches the sea across a sandy beach, in a bay whose cliffs make a natural amphitheatre. The car park and restaurant stand on a terrace above the beach with a straight view of the line-up, so you can check it before you paddle out. The wave breaks over rock and reef on the north side of the bay.
Ribeira d'Ilhas
Intermediate and upRight-handerContest waveA long right over rock and reef that peels along the shore like a point. You take off on the reef at the north side of the bay, with the paddle-out channel just south of the main peak. On an average day there are several peaks, and the inside is shorter and steeper. A ride of about 100 m is normal; good days run well past 200 m.
As the swell grows the take-off moves outside, the wave gets longer and heavier and the current along the reef picks up. Out on the north edge, one guide says, Pontinha is a faster, harder right that joins up with Ribeira only a couple of times a year.
Who it suits: intermediates on small, clean days, advanced surfers when it is big, and beginners only with a school on small days. Mafra council's surf map rates it 'difficult'.
Reef and Pedra Branca
Experts onlyPraia da EmpaSouth on Praia da Empa, about 500 m away, Reef is a short, fast, hollow right over a flat shelf about 1 m deep. Another 300 m on, Pedra Branca is a fast, powerful, barrelling left that wants mid to high tide. The council rates both 'dangerous'.
Coxos, Crazy Left and Cave
Experts onlyKiwi forecasts CoxosA 10-minute clifftop walk north (there is no road between the two bays) takes you to Baía dos Dois Irmãos and three waves the council rates 'dangerous': Coxos, a long, powerful right with barrel sections; Crazy Left, a fast, hollow left; and Cave, the heaviest wave in Ericeira, for professionals only.
São Lourenço
Holds big swellA few minutes further north, the reserve's last wave: a big bay with a powerful right that takes very large swells.
Foz do Lizandro
LearnersKiwi forecasts itLearning? Everything north of town is reef. Head about 5 km south, past Ericeira, to Foz do Lizandro, a sandy beach at a river mouth where the schools take first-timers.
What Ribeira d'Ilhas 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 to north-west, 11 s or longer
The spot faces west (the line in the dial), and swell from 265° to 315° walks straight in. That matches the guides, who rate west to north-west as ideal; Mafra council says it takes almost any swell. Kiwi's score rises with the period, with full marks from about 13 s.
Wind
Offshore from the east
Wind from about 65° to 135° (east-northeast 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 valley gets offshore wind more often than any spot nearby.
Tide
Mid to high
Kiwi's rating leans to mid and high tide. Guides put the sweet spot around mid tide (some say every tide works) and split on rising or falling. The safe advice: avoid dead low, which exposes the inside reef, and high tide on small days, when the wave goes fat.
Size
Best at 1.4 to 3 metres
It starts to work from about 0.8 metres. Above 3 metres it gets heavy, and over 4 metres Kiwi says stay out. Guides disagree on the top end; they agree it works from about waist high and handles well over head height.
Kiwi's shortcut: a west or north-west swell with a long period, an east wind and mid to high tide. When those line up, the green-outlined rows show up in the table above.
The best months to surf Ribeira d'Ilhas
We replayed Kiwi's rating on every day from January 2025 to October 2026 and counted how often Ribeira d'Ilhas's best window reached 4 or 5 stars.
Sep · Oct · NovOctober is the peak
October was Ribeira's best month in the replay: the best window reached 4 or 5 stars on 38% of days, and 76% of days had a session of 3 stars or more. September: 18%. November gets bigger (typically 3.0 m at the best window) and drops to 10%.
Dec · Jan · FebBig swells, pick your day
Winter brings the biggest swells: the typical size at the day's best window was 3.7 m, near the top of what Kiwi rates here. 18% of winter days made 4+ stars.
Mar · Apr · MaySpring: the best season overall
March and April came close to October, with 4+ stars on 31% and 37% of days. By May the swell is down to about 1.8 m at the best window and the share falls to 18%.
Jun · Jul · AugSmall, busy and early
Guides call Ribeira one of the more reliable summer spots around Ericeira, but summer was still its quietest season in the replay: 30% of summer days had 3 stars or more, and July only 2% at 4+. Go early: the best window started before 11:00 on 81% of summer days.
Before you go
Lifeguards and currents
Lifeguards are on duty in the bathing season (13 June to 13 September in 2026, 9:00 to 19:00), and in 2026 Mafra also ran a daily patrol from 14 September to 30 October.
The current along the reef gets strong as the swell grows: in August 2024 the Ericeira lifeboat crew rescued three surfers it had pushed into a spot they couldn't paddle back from. Jornal de Mafra reports that the council added rescue drones here for 2026. Emergencies: 112.
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.
Cliff closure in 2026
Since 7 May 2026 a captaincy order (Edital 28/2026) bans access to the signposted areas under the unstable cliff. It was still in force on 30 October 2026. Keep out of the marked zones.
Reef and urchins
At lower tides the inside reef gets shallow and sea urchins cover it. Kick out before the ledge at the end of the ride, and wear booties.
Getting there without a car
- From Lisboa Campo Grande, express bus 2801 reaches Ericeira bus terminal in 44 to 50 min. It runs 23 times on weekdays but only 3 times a day at weekends; the slower 2803, 2740, 2741 and 2751 fill the gaps.
- From the terminal, the Ericeira circular 2126 reaches the 'EN 247 (X) Praia R Ilhas' stop in about 8 min, about 170 m from the car park (18 runs on weekdays, 11 a day at weekends).
- In summer 2026 (4 July to 31 August) the beach bus 2123 ran every hour between Ribeira d'Ilhas and Foz do Lizandro.
- On foot from town: 30 to 40 minutes.
Driving and parking
About 40 to 50 minutes from Lisbon on the A8 and A21, with about €3 of tolls each way in 2026. From Ericeira centre it is a few minutes on the coast road.
The car park sits on the terrace right above the beach. It fills fast on summer weekends and contest days, and a height barrier keeps motorhomes out. We found no official parking tariff.
Surf schools
Schools teach here most days. 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, 3 Ondas, Boardculture, Sea Krew, Progress Surf School.
Crowds and etiquette
Ribeira is the busiest wave in the reserve, worst on summer weekends, public holidays and contest days; one guide suggests a 6 am start to beat the schools. Several peaks spread people out.
Start on the shoulder rather than paddling straight to the peak, and don't drop in. Localism is low to moderate here, and stronger on the small reefs next door.
Contests
Ribeira hosts a WSL Challenger Series stop every early autumn: the 2026 EDP Ericeira Pro ran from 6 to 12 October. The national league (Liga MEO) came in May 2026. Contest days fill the parking, and one guide says they close the main peak.
Water and wetsuit
About 14 to 15 °C in late winter and 17 to 18 °C from late summer into autumn. The summer nortada pulls 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 and Surftotal run public cams on Ribeira d'Ilhas, and Surfline has one too.
World Surfing Reserve
Ericeira's World Surfing Reserve was dedicated on 14 October 2011 with a sunrise paddle-out here at Ribeira d'Ilhas: the second in the world after Malibu and the first in Europe. It covers about 4 km of coast and seven waves, from Pedra Branca to São Lourenço.
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 Ribeira d'Ilhas 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 Ribeira d'Ilhas (the nearest buoy we test against is the Nazaré coastal buoy, about 65 km north), so the size at the reef is our model's estimate, not a measurement. See the full accuracy test.
Ribeira d'Ilhas surf questions
What is the surf like at Ribeira d'Ilhas today?
Kiwi's 07:56 run gives Ribeira d'Ilhas 5/5 stars today: Go 08-09, clean overhead, offshore E. Waves 1.8–2.4 m, 12 s swell from the WNW, wind offshore E 9 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 Ribeira d'Ilhas good for beginners?
Only with a school, on small days. It is a reef break: an intermediate wave on small, clean days and an advanced one when it is big, and Mafra council's surf map rates it 'difficult'. For a first wave, the sandy beach at Foz do Lizandro, south of town, is the usual choice.
What is the best tide at Ribeira d'Ilhas?
Best around mid tide, by most guides; some say every tide works. Avoid dead low, which exposes the shallow inside reef, and high tide on small days, when the wave goes fat. Kiwi's rating leans to mid and high tide.
What wind and swell work at Ribeira d'Ilhas?
A west to north-west swell and an easterly wind, anywhere from north-east to south-east. Under 6 km/h it is glassy. In summer the nortada blows hardest in the afternoon, so mornings are usually best.
When is the best time of year to surf Ribeira d'Ilhas?
In Kiwi's replay of 2025 and 2026, October was the best month (38% of days at 4 or 5 stars), followed by April (37%) and March (31%). Guides also favour September to April, with autumn the best window. Summer is smaller and busier.
When is the surf contest at Ribeira d'Ilhas?
The WSL Challenger Series stops here every early autumn: the 2026 EDP Ericeira Pro ran from 6 to 12 October, and the 2025 one from 29 September to 5 October. The national Liga MEO also came in May 2026. One guide says contest days close the main peak.
Can I get to Ribeira d'Ilhas by bus?
Is parking free at Ribeira d'Ilhas?
There is a large car park on the terrace right above the beach. Most sources call it free, one guide mentions a summer charge, and we found no official tariff, so check on arrival. It fills fast on summer weekends and contest days.
Is there a webcam at Ribeira d'Ilhas?
Yes: MEO Beachcam, Surftotal and Surfline all have public cams on the bay. A cam shows you now; Kiwi tells you which hour to go.
Can I surf at Ribeira d'Ilhas 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.
Where is Ribeira d'Ilhas?
On the Atlantic coast about 3 km north of Ericeira town centre, in Mafra municipality, Lisbon district, and about 40 to 50 minutes' drive from Lisbon. It is not in the Algarve.
What is the water temperature at Ribeira d'Ilhas?
About 14 to 15 °C in late winter and 17 to 18 °C from late summer into autumn. The summer nortada can bring cold water up along the coast. 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 Ribeira d'Ilhas, so the size at the reef is an estimate.
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