Leme.

About

Leme is the short stretch of beach at the northern corner of Copacabana, sheltered from the open Atlantic by the Morro do Leme headland. The corner reshapes both the swell and the wind: south energy bends around the rock and reforms as a left running off the headland, and what is sideshore for the rest of the bay can still be clean here. It is the corner Rio’s older surfers head to when Copacabana proper is blown out.

The wave wants south-southwest to south swell at 11 seconds or longer, ideally the long pulses that wrap deep into the bay. Workable height is 1 to 3 metres. Mid to high tide covers the rocks at the headland and lets the wave run; low exposes them. Offshore wind comes on a W to SW quadrant, and the corner gives partial shelter from the ENE sea breeze that finishes the rest of Copacabana. Season is May through August.

Intermediate to advanced. The lineup is smaller than Copacabana proper and run by Leme regulars who surf it on almost every winter swell, a quiet but consistent hierarchy. The hazard is the headland. A leash snapping on a bigger day puts you onto rocks, not sand. The takeoff zone is narrow and the wave does not reform if you miss it. Sit on the right peak and wait your turn rather than paddling for everything that comes through.