Rio de Janeiro.

The Rio de Janeiro coast bends from urban beach to mountain-backed reef as you run west from the city. Arpoador, between Ipanema and Copacabana, is the icon: a right that wraps off the rock at the end of Ipanema and draws crowds onto the sand at every sunset. Prainha and Grumari, in a protected reserve forty minutes west, hold the cleanest water and the most consistent walls. Barra da Tijuca and Macumba spread the lineup across kilometres of beach break and point in between.

Peak is April through September, when southern Atlantic storms send long-period south to south-west swell straight at the open beaches. Prainha and Macumba light up first; Arpoador catches the wraparound. May is the cleanest month, with the most days where dawn glass meets a solid south. Summer brings east-quadrant wind swell that’s warm, small, and consistent. Offshore is north to north-west. By mid-morning the north-easterly trade fills in and crumbles the open beaches.

Water runs 20 to 23 °C in August, 25 to 28 °C in February. Boardies and a rashie cover most of the year; a 2 mm springsuit when a winter southerly is up. Arpoador is shoulder-to-shoulder on a Saturday and the regulars know each other. Prainha and Grumari sit inside a federal reserve, so access is by car and the lineup spreads out. The shorebreak at Arpoador goes heavy at low tide. On a small day, drive west to Prainha or Grumari; on a big south, the Arpoador corner stays protected.