WorldBrazil › Santa Catarina › Barrinha

Barrinha 54.3

#3676 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇧🇷 Brazil · Santa Catarina · near Imbituba

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Barrinha, Brazil
Photo: Eduardo Engel Balle · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · photo taken 1.3 km from the spot
Surf score54.3 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days10% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell14% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 3.9 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Barrinha

The best time to surf Barrinha is May, June, July. It rarely works. In May the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.2 m. The nearest airport is FLN (48 km) and the nearest town is Imbituba (16 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%3%1.1 m25°Cboardies
Feb99%5%1.0 m27°Cboardies
Mar100%12%1.1 m25°Cboardies
Apr100%12%1.2 m24°Cvest
May99%27%1.2 m21°C2mm
Jun100%23%1.2 m19°C3/2
Jul100%21%1.2 m17°C3/2
Aug100%10%1.2 m18°C3/2
Sep100%6%1.3 m19°C3/2
Oct100%5%1.4 m20°C2mm
Nov100%5%1.2 m20°C2mm
Dec100%4%1.1 m23°Cvest

What is under Barrinha

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 19 m.

Depth 8 km out19 m
Depth 4 km out16 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 54.3

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
11.7
Best days 22.4%
9.0
Clean days 18.4%
4.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.7
Access 4.1%
3.9

The detail

Faces 110° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 73% of days. Mean peak period 8.9 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 11 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 50%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -28.085, -48.631 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,090/ month
typically €959 – €1,220
Rent, one bedroom€570
Groceries€230
Eating out€130
Getting around€75
Phone + internet€80
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,120/ month
typically €1,870 – €2,370
Somewhere to stay€1,250
Eating out€445
Car, transfers, fuel€290
Data + extras€135
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Brazil (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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