Santa Cruz is a typical coastal town, busy with tourists in summer, empty in winter. The beach breaks surrounding Santa Cruz offer lots of potential on small to medium swells. The peaks closer to town can get crowded, but if you venture more north, the wave quality gets better and the crowds less. You can find both lefts and rights on the different peaks to the north. Just south of Praia de Santa Cruz is also another break called Praia das Amoeiras.

Santa Cruz is an exposed beach break, so it picks up lots of swell but is also sensitive to wind. The best wind direction is from the east and the preferred swell direction is west/northwest. Santa Cruz normally works best with low to mid tide, but this can change depending on the sand banks.