Where is the best place to surf in Portugal?
When you stand on the sandy beach at Nazare it looks just as a good beach should – a long expanse of pristine golden sand stretching as far as the eye can see, enveloped by the deep blue ocean.
But if you’re asking where is the best place to surf in Portugal, Nazare could be just what you are looking for….
Nazare is an exhilarating beach where every now and then a large wave crashes over the sand. When there are storms over the North Atlantic a swell can arise which sends huge breakers onto the beach. Why does Nazare get these giant aftershock breakers when other nearby beaches remain relatively untouched?
The answer lies in a huge trench that sits under the sea just off the Nazare coast. The swell becomes amplified causing a harmless rolling wave to rise to over seventy feet before crashing down onto the beach. The word travels quickly around the surfing community and here on Nazare beach, world records are being smashed.
As storm St. Jude was battering Britain and much of northern Europe in October this year, a handful of surfers waited pensively for the big waves to come rolling into Nazare from the depths of the Atlantic. Their prediction was correct and on 28th October 2013 Brazilian Carlos Burle surfed a wave believed to be the world record.
The previous surfing world record has been held since 2011 when the American Garret McNamara successful surfed an 80ft wave at Nazare. Burle’s 2013 Nazare feat is believed to be closer to the magic100ft.
Nazare is a pretty little fishing village just to the north of Lisbon. The huge waves that crash down on the golden sands here have been the source of tragedy. Unsuspecting people have been washed out to sea and lost even when simply wading in the shallow surf.
As a spectacle though it is hard to beat, sitting at a safe distance and watching these daring individuals go for glory as they seek the ultimate wave is one way to pass time on a Portuguese holiday.
Perhaps leave walking across Nazare’s golden sands to a day when the water is still. Though at Nazare, you could be waiting a while.