Lopes Mendes.

Lopes Mendes is Ilha Grande's headline wave, three kilometres of white sand facing the open Atlantic on the island's south coast. The beach breaks as an a-frame, peaks running both ways off a shifting sandbar, and it stays surfable most of the year apart from the flattest summer stretches. Winter groundswell, especially June, brings the most reliable days, firming up under a southwest swell and an offshore northeast wind. There is no road here: surfers take a boat from Vila do Abraao to Praia do Pouso, then walk about twenty minutes on trail T11, or hike the full route from Abraao in roughly ninety minutes. That access keeps the lineup close to empty even though the beach itself draws day trippers and regularly ranks among Brazil's most beautiful. Conditions turn serious fast: the sea runs treacherous with rip currents, and shallow holes open without warning near the shore. Camping is banned and no lifeguard patrols, so anyone out is on their own once the last boat leaves.

Groundswell rolls straight off the open Atlantic onto three kilometres of empty sand, with nothing between the takeoff and the horizon.