Foam

Start at Cave or any of Coxos, Crazy Left, Ericeira, Pedra Branca, Reef and São Lourenço, the forecast reads exactly the same across all six today, so choose by location and what you know of each. Right now it's worth a dawn patrol. Swell is holding at waist to stomach height on a clean NNW angle that wraps in well, with 76 per cent genuine groundswell behind it and a nine-second period that's long enough to hold shape and peel properly. Wind is light from the north and cross-shore, so it's not cleaning up the faces but it's not messy either. Water is warm at 19°C and the tide is falling into your favour until mid-morning.

By 3pm the window closes. Wind swings onshore from the NNW and strengthens to 19 kph, which will chop and soften the faces. Tide will have turned and risen by then, fattening the waves out. Morning is where your session is.

Tomorrow peaks at good and looks capable of waist to shoulder, best in the first light before wind picks up. Conditions shift markedly from today, more energy in the water and a smaller crowd window, but forecasts this far out can still shift, so treat the morning call as firm and the afternoon as provisional.