LA-based surfer artist (and noted Brazil-o-phile) Sandow Birk has spent three years living, surfing and painting in Brazil's most famous city and offers the following advice for would-be travelers:


April is a good time for surf as it is their fall. Rio has waves year-round, although the summer can have long flat spells. Swells are generated by cold fronts moving up from off of Argentina and usually last only a day or two, three if its a strong swell. Water temps in Rio are generally trunks all year, although a short sleeve spring suit is handy if a could current comes up or if its windy or raining. Swells can jump up quick so watch for a change in the wind.

Rio surf is usually short period sand bottom beachbreaks, with the best spots being off rock point headlands. The surf is usually powerful and hollow, more so than California. I don't know how you surf, but most guys there ride short 6'0"s or something and the boards are thin "potato chip" style, which work pretty well in the quick-drop hollow stuff. Also, they make good boards in Rio and the boards are pretty cheap and easy to buy. You can pick up a brand new good board at a local shop there for about $150 USD, so sometimes it can be better to buy one there than pay airline charges from the USA.

The main surf spot in Rio city is Arpoador Point, a left headland between Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches. Its a great wave and its super crowded, with lights so you can surf 24 hours a day. Right on the street behind it there is a little shopping center full of surf shops with everything you need. I recommend the "Invicta" shop on the street. Peninha is the owner, and his brother Alex is a local hot surfer.

Arpoador only breaks on decent swells, so if you check it and it's flat don't despair. It can be flat in town and fun out in the suburbs. Driving out along the miles of Barra (pronounced like "baja") and you'll find beach peaks and uncrowded surf, especially during school days. If there's no surf there, keep going all the way to the super pretty beach of Prainha ("little beach"), a gorgeous cove surrounded by jungle cliffs that picks up the most swell and almost always has surf. It can be head-high there when Arpoador is flat. And it's a great place to take a girl or meet one. It's about 40 mins. from Arpoador if you know how to get there, but it's not hard to find, ask around or get a map or just follow the coast road as far as you can.

If Arpoador is breaking, all of Ipanema and Leblon can be breaking, so just walk the boardwalk and find a crowded peak and check out the beach scene as you surf. If Arpoador (or "Arpex", as the locals call it) is too big (which it can be), walk to Copacabana and look for dredging shallow waves in the middle of beach in front of the Othon Hotel. If the wind is wrong, look on the other side of the rock at Arpoador for a funky little sand beach called Diabo ("devil") Beach. It's offshore when Arpex is blown out.

Surf in Rio can get big, even huge, and it can snap boards. But it can also more often be tiny. Best recommendation is to get a car, cruise around, look for waves. If it's lousy, go out for a splash, hang on the beach, and go out again. You can always get wet and there's nothing better than hanging out at the beach in Rio.

Click here for Surfline's Brazil surf forecast.