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Tres Marias

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About

Unknown huge wave (slap, powerful and fast) is the biggest one in Brazil alongside Laje da Jaguaruna and Ilha dos Lobos. The average size of Tres Marias is 18ft to 20ft but sometimes is bigger.

Atmosphere:
Tres Marias (three marys in english) is a very unknown secret spot in Cassino beach with one of the biggest waves in Brazil. Around 5km from the shore close to the end tip of a huge breakwater structure built to help cargo ships go to Rio Grande port by entering in the lagoon, it's a sand bar that breaks only in the right conditions but when it does it's huge and dangerous. When there are big swells it's possible to see the Tres Marias from the shore, so you can imagine how big they are (clear image from 5km away)... few locals have dropped the Tres Marias.

The city of Rio Grande has one of the biggest ports in South America and is very close to the conection between Lagoa dos Patos (one of the largest lagoons in the world) and the Atlantic Ocean. The two fin lines that show up in the map location are called "Molhes" in portuguese... some couple hundred meters away from the left one (Molhe Oeste) is where the magic happens! This stone barrier has a little wind-cart (a mine cart with a sail) and you can take it to go to the end tip of the Molhe, that is more than 4km long. Along the way it is possible to see sea lions and wolves hanging out in the rocks (those guys really know the best spots!) and sometimes dolphins.

The waves are so powerful that they can drag the big rocks and concrete blocks from the stone barrier. There are registers that blocks with 20 tons where wiped out! The guys that work in the port and cargo ships call it "Hawaii" and it is important to remeber that this is a very dangerous wave and can produce some giant series after series killers that will push you back to shore like a tsunami! So you must always have extra caution and rescue boats around.

Additional Info:
Tow-in only!

Location

Access

The Tres Marias breaks around 5km from the shore and the only way to get there is by boat, but it's possible to see them from the end tip of the Molhe Oeste (4km long stone barrier) and in big days you can see it from the shore.

Getting there
Walk
Don't know
Public access
Yes
4x4 required
No
Boat required
Yes
Wave characteristics
Type
Sandbar
Direction
Right and left
Bottom
Sandy
Power
Fast, Powerful, Slab
Frequency
Sometimes breaks (50 days/year)
Normal length
Long (150 to 300m)
Good day length
Don't know
Ideal conditions
Wind direction
South, SouthEast
Swell direction
South
Swell size
Don't know - 16ft and over
Tide
Don't know
Tide movement
Don't know
Crowd
Week
Empty
Weekend
Empty

Dangers

Rips / undertow

Videos

None

Nearby spots

Praia do Cassino

3.48 miles away

Direction
Right and left
Bottom
Sandy
Frequency
Sometimes breaks (50 days/year)

Navio

12.20 miles away

Direction
Right and left
Bottom
Sandy
Frequency
Sometimes breaks (50 days/year)

Sao Jose do Norte

13.33 miles away

Direction
Right and left
Bottom
Sandy with rock
Frequency
Don't know