Surfing
Surfing in Aljezur: the spots, and staying ten minutes away.
Aljezur sits in the middle of the best stretch of beach break in southern Europe. Five spots lie within fifteen minutes by car, they face west into consistent Atlantic swell, and between them they hold almost any condition. Summer is small and friendly, autumn is the best all round, and winter is big, cold and empty. A 3/2 wetsuit covers most of the year, a 4/3 in January and February.
We learned here ourselves, both of us, as adults. So we know exactly which beach not to send you to on your second day.
Amoreira
- 8 min drive
- Beginner friendly
- Low tide
- Rivermouth
The closest, and where you start. A soft inside bank on a small day, a rivermouth that can shape up nicely, and enough room that you are not sitting on top of anyone. On a big day the shore break is heavier than it looks from the car park.
Arrifana
- 15 min drive
- Sheltered
- All levels
- Right-hander
The safety valve. A cliff-sheltered bay that stays surfable when the north wind ruins everything else, which in summer is most afternoons. There is a point at the north end for the confident and a beach in the middle for everyone else, plus schools and board hire.
surf-arrifana.jpg — the bay at Arrifana with the point at the north end
Monte Clérigo
- 11 min drive
- Peaky
- Mid tide
- Quieter
Shifting peaks along a short beach, best at mid tide, and usually less crowded than Arrifana because everyone drives past it. Our default when the swell is chest high and the wind has not filled in yet.
surf-clerigo.jpg — peaks at Monte Clérigo at mid tide
Amado and Bordeira
- 30 min drive
- Consistent
- Exposed
- Contest beach
South past Carrapateira, and the beaches you have seen in magazines. Amado is the contest beach and picks up everything; Bordeira is enormous and has banks worth walking for. Both are exposed, so the wind decides whether the drive is worth it.
surf-amado.jpg — Amado from the cliff, lines coming in
Odeceixe
- 20 min drive
- Rivermouth
- Sheltered north end
- Fun
Twenty minutes north, with a rivermouth bank and a cliff at each end. Not the best wave on this coast, but a good one when the swell is small and everywhere else is flat.
surf-odeceixe.jpg — the rivermouth bank at Odeceixe
Practical
Boards, lessons and the season.
- Board and wetsuit hire in Aljezur and at Arrifana
- Surf schools at Arrifana and Amado, English and German
- Water 15 to 16 °C in winter, 18 to 20 °C in late summer
- 3/2 wetsuit most of the year, 4/3 in January and February
- Autumn is the best season: warm water, clean swell, nobody here
- North wind most summer afternoons, so surf early
- A line outside every home to hang a wetsuit, and a bucket to rinse it
- Ask us the night before and we will tell you where to go
Surf and sleep
A whole home, not a bunk in a camp.
For people who want to surf twice a day and then cook, sleep properly and not share a kitchen with fourteen others. Warm in winter, which is when the waves are best.