About Búzios and how the ratings work

Armação dos Búzios sits on a small peninsula on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. Its 24 mapped beaches face north, south, east and west, separated by headlands and hills. When the wind blows, one side of the peninsula can be sheltered while the other is fully exposed — and even different ends of the same beach can feel very different.

How a rating is calculated

• Real geography. Coastline, beaches and islands come from OpenStreetMap; terrain from SRTM 30 m elevation data. Long beaches are split into 40 sections along the real shoreline.
• Orientation. For each section we compute the direction it faces, so we know whether the wind arrives from the sea, from the side or from the land.
• Shelter. For 16 wind directions we look upwind from each section: how much land and how much high ground lies in the way. Gaps between hills are flagged as places where the wind may funnel and gust.
• Forecast. Wind speed, gusts and direction from a weather model (provider shown on every page) are reduced by the shelter factor to estimate the wind on that stretch of sand.
• Score. The estimated wind becomes a 0–100 comfort score, minus penalties for strong gusts and rain. Green ≥ 70, amber ≥ 40, red below. These thresholds are provisional, not scientifically validated.

What a rating is not

Ratings are model estimates, not on-site measurements. Sea state is shown separately and is an estimate of wave exposure — not a swimming-safety rating. Offshore wind does not mean safe swimming. Always follow lifeguards and beach flags.

See the wind guide or the list of beaches.