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Meia Praia 37.6

#4941 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇹 Portugal · Faro · near Portimão

Needs the right swell, wind is the enemy here, peaks in February.

RemoteBeginner
Meia Praia, Portugal
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score37.6 /100
Surfable days32% of the year
Clean days6% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell8% period 11 s+
Typical size0.5 m 1.5 ft median
Water17°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Meia Praia

The best time to surf Meia Praia is February, April, December. It rarely works. In February the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 0.6 m. The nearest airport is LIS (189 km) and the nearest town is Portimão (12 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan46%6%0.6 m15°C4/3
Feb52%12%0.6 m14°C4/3
Mar54%7%0.6 m15°C4/3
Apr45%9%0.5 m16°C3/2
May20%1%0.4 m17°C3/2
Jun5%1%0.3 m19°C3/2
Jul8%0%0.3 m19°C2mm
Aug5%0%0.3 m20°C2mm
Sep15%1%0.3 m18°C3/2
Oct29%4%0.5 m19°C2mm
Nov48%7%0.6 m19°C3/2
Dec57%12%0.6 m16°C3/2

What is under Meia Praia

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 48 m.

Depth 8 km out48 m
Depth 4 km out25 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 37.6

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%
17.7
Best days 22.4%
3.9
Clean days 18.4%
2.5
Consistency 10.2%
3.2
Season spread 4.1%
0.7
Water comfort 6.1%
1.9
Access 4.1%
2.7

The detail

Faces 125° with 25% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 77% of days. Mean peak period 10.9 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.0 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 55%. Months that work: 3 of 12. Coordinates 37.108, -8.662 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

4 homes for sale within 30 km of Meia Praia, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €19,900. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Imovirtual and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€19,900House · 24 m² · 2 roomsBarão de São Miguel13 km from the spot →€21,500Flat · 63 m² · 2 roomsPortimão14 km from the spot →€23,000House · 37 m² · 3 roomsSão Gonçalo de Lagos2 km from the spot →€25,000House · 24 m² · 1 roomBarão de São Miguel13 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,150/ month
typically €1,010 – €1,280
Rent, one bedroom€604
Groceries€242
Eating out€136
Getting around€81
Phone + internet€85
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,240/ month
typically €1,970 – €2,500
Somewhere to stay€1,320
Eating out€472
Car, transfers, fuel€306
Data + extras€144
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Portugal (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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Spots nearby

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