Contendas.

Contendas is a reef break on the south coast of Terceira, Azores, sitting inside a bay near the village of Sao Sebastiao. The wave is left-dominant: a short, sucky peak where the rights go dry on the reef while the left runs back into the southern corner of the bay. An outside right-hand point filters and muffles incoming swell before it refracts and reforms on the inside reef, which means the break can handle larger swells without closing out as dramatically as an exposed reef might. On low to incoming tide, the reef produces steep, bowly lefts with well-covered barrel sections, rewarding surfers who can handle a fast, vertical takeoff over shallow water. The spot works on big SW, SE or E swells but tunes perfectly only on a pure S groundswell of 1.2 to 1.8 meters with a period of 12 seconds or more, paired with a westerly to north-westerly wind. Beyond 2.4 meters the wave closes out. Because westerly and south-westerly winds are both the optimal wind direction and the dominant swell driver, the window when swell and wind align is narrow but worthwhile.