Farofa.

Farofa sits on the west side of Pedra do Pontal, the granite outcrop splitting Recreio dos Bandeirantes from Praia da Macumba in Rio's Zona Oeste. The wave breaks right against the rock, and on a typical day of south or southeast swell it stays small and forgiving, the kind of wave beginners use to learn. It changes character when a south to southwest swell arrives with size: the swell wraps the point and throws up a proper left running along the rock face, rewarding surfers who know the takeoff. An east wind keeps the face clean, and low tide is the call locally. The break sat for years under the generic boardwalk marker Posto 12 before Farofa, its working name in local surf reports, took over. It shares the tombolo with a separate, more exposed peak on the Recreio side that catches south and southeast swell head on and throws rights, so surfers checking the Pontal have an option on either face. Entry is from the Macumba side of the beach, near the rock.

A left that stays tucked and small until a south to southwest swell finds enough size to wrap around the rock.