Saquarema has drawn its fair share of Rio commuters through the decades. And now that the WSL makes an annual trip to Rio, Barrinha and Itaúna — Saquarema’s two trademark waves — have a lot more world recognition. The swell that just came to Rio last week is a perfect example of why the place churns out some of Brazil’s hardest chargers.
Barrinha famously turned on for the final stretch of the 2019 Oi Rio Pro, shooting down the idea that the event would always be a sloppy beachbreak sore on the Dream Tour’s schedule. Last week’s session at the right hander went down in even better conditions.
“Barrinha was literally FIRING,” filmmaker Matheus Cuoto told The Inertia after making the drive to Saquarema. “Pro surfers like Joao Chumbinho, Vitor Ferreira, locals like Raoni Monteiro, and others were getting perfect barrels.”
The WSL had some terrible luck with contest windows in 2022, often missing season-best swells at places like G-Land by a matter of days. Maybe all that bad luck was used up in 2022 and we’ll get a day like this when the CT is in town next June?
