WorldBrazil › Rio de Janeiro › Praia Brava - Cabo Frio

Praia Brava - Cabo Frio 62.4

#2947 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇧🇷 Brazil · Rio de Janeiro · near Cabo Frio

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

Works all yearIntermediate
Praia Brava - Cabo Frio, Brazil
Photo: Halley Pacheco de Oliveira · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score62.4 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days12% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell30% period 11 s+
Typical size1.6 m 5.4 ft median
Water23°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Praia Brava - Cabo Frio

The best time to surf Praia Brava - Cabo Frio is March, May, July. It rarely works. In May the water sits around 24°C, so pack a rash vest or 2 mm, and the typical wave is 1.8 m. The nearest airport is CFB (10 km) and the nearest town is Cabo Frio (4 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%3%1.4 m24°Cvest
Feb100%16%1.4 m26°Cboardies
Mar100%20%1.5 m26°Cboardies
Apr100%14%1.5 m25°Cvest
May100%25%1.8 m24°Cvest
Jun100%20%1.8 m22°Cvest
Jul100%21%1.8 m22°C2mm
Aug100%4%1.8 m22°C2mm
Sep100%6%1.8 m21°C2mm
Oct100%3%1.8 m21°C2mm
Nov100%8%1.6 m22°Cvest
Dec100%6%1.4 m24°Cvest

What is under Praia Brava - Cabo Frio

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 38 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 691 m against 38 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out38 m
Depth 4 km out18 m
Channel beside it691 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 62.4

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%
13.2
Best days 22.4%
12.9
Clean days 18.4%
5.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.5
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 135° with 61% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 38% of days. Mean peak period 9.9 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.4 m, with a peak period of 12 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 12%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -22.885, -41.998 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,340/ month
typically €1,180 – €1,500
Rent, one bedroom€701
Groceries€283
Eating out€160
Getting around€92
Phone + internet€98
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,610/ month
typically €2,300 – €2,920
Somewhere to stay€1,540
Eating out€547
Car, transfers, fuel€357
Data + extras€166
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 23% above the country average. 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.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

Nanakuli Blackrocks🇺🇸 United States of America · score 78.7Fitzroy Beach🇳🇿 New Zealand · score 74.9The Hook🇺🇸 United States of America · score 78.6Machico🇵🇹 Portugal · score 78.7
Compare Praia Brava - Cabo Frio with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in May