WorldPortugal › Lisboa › Praia das Maçãs

Praia das Maçãs 74.4

#1971 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇹 Portugal · Lisboa · near Lisbon

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

Works all yearBig waveIntermediate
Praia das Maçãs, Portugal
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score74.4 /100
Surfable days97% of the year
Clean days19% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell51% period 11 s+
Typical size1.8 m 5.8 ft median
Water16°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Praia das Maçãs

The best time to surf Praia das Maçãs is February, March, December. It rarely works. In March the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 2.4 m. The nearest airport is XXC (15 km) and the nearest town is Lisbon (30 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan98%24%2.1 m14°C4/3
Feb97%32%2.6 m14°C4/3
Mar94%39%2.4 m14°C4/3
Apr98%32%1.9 m15°C4/3
May100%2%1.5 m16°C3/2
Jun98%4%1.4 m17°C3/2
Jul100%2%1.3 m18°C3/2
Aug98%2%1.3 m19°C3/2
Sep99%20%1.4 m17°C3/2
Oct99%27%1.8 m17°C3/2
Nov95%32%2.5 m17°C3/2
Dec93%35%2.5 m15°C4/3

What is under Praia das Maçãs

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 95 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 135 m against 95 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out95 m
Depth 4 km out39 m
Channel beside it135 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 74.4

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%
19.1
Best days 22.4%
17.4
Clean days 18.4%
8.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.4
Access 4.1%
3.8

The detail

Faces 295° with 44% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 37% of days. Mean peak period 11.2 s. Days over 3 m: 14%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.2 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 20%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 38.825, -9.470 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

16 homes for sale within 30 km of Praia das Maçãs, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €3,950. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Imovirtual and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€15,000Flat · 48 m² · 2 roomsCascais e Estoril13 km from the spot →€17,000House · 38 m² · 3 roomsSintra (Santa Maria e São Miguel, São Martinho e São Pedro de Penaferrim)10 km from the spot →€22,500House · 18 m² · 1 roomSão João das Lampas e Terrugem10 km from the spot →€27,500House · 60 m² · 4 roomsAlgueirão-Mem Martins12 km from the spot →€36,500House · 52 m² · 2 roomsAlmargem do Bispo, Pêro Pinheiro e Montelavar18 km from the spot →€59,900House · 53 m² · 3 roomsMilharado26 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,350/ month
typically €1,190 – €1,510
Rent, one bedroom€710
Groceries€285
Eating out€160
Getting around€95
Phone + internet€100
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,630/ month
typically €2,310 – €2,950
Somewhere to stay€1,550
Eating out€555
Car, transfers, fuel€360
Data + extras€170
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

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.

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

Ofir🇵🇹 Portugal · score 77.8Rocky point🇦🇺 Australia · score 81.9The Passage🇦🇺 Australia · score 82.5La Fortuna🇲🇽 Mexico · score 82.1
Compare Praia das Maçãs 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 March