Live wave height, wind and water temp — plus an 8-day forecast scored 0–100 for every sport.
Photo: Jorganes / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Today at Praia de Area Maior: Epic! for surfing — 92/100 for intermediate level. Wind 6 kn SW · Waves 2.3 m, 11 s · Tide -1.0 to 0.3 m. Best window around 17:00 UTC. Today's conditions at Praia de Area Maior: 1.6m waves with light cross-shore wind. Surfing looks Epic! in the afternoon, with Kite Foiling also worth considering. Water temperature is 14°C / 57°F.
Forecast updated · ShorSense™
Today plus the next two days are free for everyone — scored in 3-hour windows, just like the app. The full 8-day forecast lives in the 4Shor app.
Praia de Area Maior faces N. Which swells reach it — and therefore whether there is anything worth riding — depends on that aspect more than on the open-ocean forecast height.
Today's wind is cross-shore at 6 kn. Straight cross-shore sits between the two for surfing — the face stays rideable but the wall is less organised than on a clean offshore.
Over the published window Praia de Area Maior clears 60/100 for surfing at Intermediate, Advanced, Expert levels — that is who this spot is for on this sport. Today, 11 of 11 daylight hours clear that line at Intermediate.
Among the 30 scored spots within reach today, Praia de Area Maior ranks 5th for surfing. The order changes by discipline: the same conditions that put a spot top for one sport can drop it down the list for another.
Satellite-derived bathymetry with 10 m pixels and 10 cm vertical resolution out to ~40 m depth. The shape of the seabed is what determines where and how waves break.
Most apps run a single global model at 9–25 km. We blend regional NWP from national meteorological offices at 1.3–2 km — UK Met Office UKV, Météo-France AROME HD, ItaliaMeteo ICON-2I — with ECMWF IFS for the 8-day horizon. Finer resolution means the sea breeze, cliff funnelling and bay shadowing that changes everything for a session.
A nearshore wave model propagates the spectrum across the bathymetric mesh — modelling refraction, shoaling, dissipation, focusing and breaking as it goes. Most apps stop at swell + wind. We go further.
10 sport models × 4 ability levels weight wave height, period, wind, tide and breaking conditions differently — calibrated against ridden sessions so the scores mean what they say.
A 378m x 60m sandy beach break by a town promenade, bars and restaurants, within a protected natural space. Produces a left in the centre and a fast, hollow right near the promenade that can barrel on good sandbanks; no rock or reef reported. Best at low tide, with NW swell and offshore south wind — sand narrows at high tide. Staffed lifeguard service in summer. Dogs banned in summer season. Holds Blue Flag status.
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Wind at Praia de Area Maior today: 6 kn SW (gusting 25 kn). Wind direction relative to the shore affects surfing conditions significantly — offshore winds produce cleaner, glassier surfaces while onshore winds add chop. These are daily averages; the 4Shor app shows hourly detail.
Waves at Praia de Area Maior today: 2.3 m, 11 s period from NW, closing character. 4Shor derives nearshore wave conditions from ECMWF IFS 9-km atmospheric data and the IBI regional ocean model, updated hourly.
The best window for surfing at Praia de Area Maior today is around 17:00 UTC, when conditions score 92/100 for intermediate level. Conditions can shift by the hour — the 4Shor app shows the full 24-hour score chart.
For beginners, Praia de Area Maior scores 36/100 today for surfing — Poor. A score of 65–79 is Good for a beginner; 80+ is Excellent (90+ is Epic!); below 45 the session is usually not worth it. 4Shor scores every location across Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert levels.
Praia de Area Maior is scored for Surfing, Windsurfing, Kite Surfing, Kite Foiling, Wing Foiling, E-Foiling, Paddleboarding, Swimming, Kayaking, Canoeing in the 4Shor forecast system. Conditions are rated Beginner through Expert for each sport, updated every hour, so you always know whether the session is worth the drive.
Praia de Area Maior is a coastal location near Malpica in Spain. It is one of more than 2,500 European water-sport locations scored daily by 4Shor.
4Shor's ShorSense™ system combines satellite-derived seafloor mapping, nearshore wave models, wind and tide data to generate a hyper-local forecast. At Praia de Area Maior, conditions are scored hourly on a 0–100 scale for each sport and ability level. A score of 80+ means Excellent (90+ Epic!); 65–79 is Good; below 45 the session is usually not worth the drive.
Questions about 4Shor itself — accuracy, pricing, the free trial — are answered on the FAQ page.
