Posto 5.

About

Posto 5 marks the centre of Copacabana, the four-kilometre crescent between Morro do Leme to the north and Forte de Copacabana to the south. The bay’s curve filters out most swells, so Posto 5 only fires when the south Atlantic delivers something serious. When it does, lefts and rights barrel straight into the shore. On the very largest days an outer shoal called Baixio breaks well outside the beach, rolling in to detonate close to the sand in the same way that The Wedge does in California.

The break wants south to south-southwest swell at 11 seconds or longer. Workable height is 1 to 3.5 metres. Below that the bay shadows it; above, the inside turns to closeouts. Mid tide is the working window. Offshore wind comes on a W to SW quadrant, and cold-front southerlies behind a passing system also clean the bay up. Season is May through August, when Southern Hemisphere cold fronts generate the deep south swells. Outside that window the wave is mostly flat.

Advanced. The wave is short and dumping, more shore-pound than peeler, with the lip falling onto a thin layer of water over hard-packed sand. Crowds run medium-high inside on smaller pulses, then thin out fast when the swell builds enough for Baixio to fire outside; that lineup is small and committed. Walk the sand and pick a peak before paddling. The best bank often is not right in front of the lifeguard tower.