Swell Cabin › South America › Brazil

Maresias surf guide

São Sebastião's powerful beach break, a São Paulo weekend favourite with a famous party scene.

Location

São Paulo State, Brazil (-23.7880, -45.5620)

Best season

Apr – Sep: April, May, June, July, August, September

Water temperature

20–26°C (boardshorts (warmest) to 3/2 mm (coldest))

Waves

Beach break

Suits

Intermediate, Advanced surfers

Surf spots in Maresias

• Paúba: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces WSW (offshore wind from the ENE), best at low to mid tide. Suits all levels. (-23.8030, -45.5529)
• Brava (Littoral Paulista): Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N), best at all tides. Suits all levels. (-23.7994, -45.6114)
• Camburi: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N), best at all tides. Suits all levels. (-23.7794, -45.6534)
• Praia da Baleia: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces SSE (offshore wind from the NNW), best at all tides, dropping. Suits all levels. (-23.7760, -45.6835)
• Juquehy: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N), best at all tides. Suits all levels. (-23.7683, -45.7388)
• Barra do Una: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N). Suits all levels. (-23.7625, -45.7651)
• Juréia: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces SSE (offshore wind from the NNW), best at all tides. Suits all levels. (-23.7657, -45.7887)

What's on in Maresias

Maresias is São Paulo state's party beach in summer: beach bars and big clubs fill up from December to Carnival and on holiday weekends; the rest of the year it's quiet. No current weekly nights or dated events could be confirmed.

Updated 2026-11-08.

Where to stay in Maresias

371 places to stay within 10 km: 129 hotel, 88 guest house, 64 holiday rental, 30 bed and breakfast, 24 chalet, 12 hostel, 9 resort, 7 camp site, 5 villa, 3 surf camp. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: Chalés Surf House Maresias, Alma Surf House, Farah Surf House.

Hostels: Surfers Chales Maresias, Pousada Tubes Maresias, Pousada Pantai Maresias, Hostel d' Amelinha, Hostel Caiçara, Hostel Protagon.

Cafés, food and surf shops

18 cafés and bakeries, 182 restaurants and bars, 6 surf schools and 7 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Maresias - Posto 03, Surf Park, Canto do Moreira - Maresias, Recanto dos Coqueiros, Litoral norte de São Paulo, Escola de Surf Meio da Baleia.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in Maresias?

The best surf season in Maresias is Apr – Sep (April, May, June, July, August, September). The sea ranges from 20°C to 26°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in Maresias?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Maresias's best spot were good or better most often in May (92% of days, 56% great), April (91% of days, 42% great) and June (89% of days, 44% great), and least often in February (62%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in Maresias?

Water temperature in Maresias is 20–26°C: boardshorts (warmest) to 3/2 mm (coldest).

Is Maresias good for beginner surfers?

Maresias is better for intermediate and advanced surfers, though Paúba, Brava (Littoral Paulista) and Camburi can suit all levels on smaller days.

What are the surf spots in Maresias?

Maresias has 7 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Paúba (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces WSW (offshore wind from the ENE), best at low to mid tide); Brava (Littoral Paulista) (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N), best at all tides); Camburi (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N), best at all tides); Praia da Baleia (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces SSE (offshore wind from the NNW), best at all tides, dropping); Juquehy (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N), best at all tides); Barra do Una (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces S (offshore wind from the N)); Juréia (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces SSE (offshore wind from the NNW), best at all tides).

Where should surfers stay in Maresias?

Swell Cabin lists 371 places to stay within 10 km of Maresias, including 3 surf camps such as Chalés Surf House Maresias, Alma Surf House and Farah Surf House, 12 hostels, 88 guesthouses and homestays, 69 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the nightlife like in Maresias?

Maresias is São Paulo state's party beach in summer: beach bars and big clubs fill up from December to Carnival and on holiday weekends; the rest of the year it's quiet. No current weekly nights or dated events could be confirmed.

What is the surf forecast for Maresias this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Maresias and each of its 7 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/maresias: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

When is the best tide to surf in Maresias?

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Maresias weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the Ubatuba tide gauge (55 km away).

Is the Maresias surf forecast checked against measurements?

Yes. The open water off Maresias is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 66 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-23, typically 41 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 77% of the time after correcting the wave model, which ran 8% low out there (82% before). Of the three wave models compared, Météo-France has been the closest to the satellites here. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-06.

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Maresias?

Trust in this page's data is low (47/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 0 of 7 spots fully verified, 6 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; 2 open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Is there a live surf cam in Maresias?

Swell Cabin hasn't found a live surf cam it could check in Maresias yet (it only lists cams it has opened); the surf forecast on its page shows the waves this week.

Where can I take surf lessons in Maresias?

Surf schools in and around Maresias include Maresias - Posto 03, Surf Park, Canto do Moreira - Maresias, Recanto dos Coqueiros, Litoral norte de São Paulo and Escola de Surf Meio da Baleia.

Nearby surf towns

• Ubatuba, Brazil (best Apr – Sep)
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (best Apr – Sep)
• Saquarema, Brazil (best Apr – Sep)
• Florianópolis, Brazil (best Mar – Sep)
• Garopaba, Brazil (best Mar – Sep)
• Praia do Rosa, Brazil (best Mar – Sep)

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