Surfing in Peniche
Peniche is a small town about an hour's drive north of Lisbon. Next to it is Baleal, a village right in a peninsula stretching into the ocean, surrounded by beaches.
Due to its excellent position, this location catches swell from different directions and you can usually find a spot that works on (nearly) any given day. In the 2 weeks that I spent there, there was only one day that was essentially waveless, and even then we could have gotten a bit more of a swell if we drove farther afield. That's exactly the reason why I went to Peniche in the first place: spots that work under different conditions and are within a 20-minute drive.
The waves were generally good - a couple of times they were a bit too big for me, and once or twice too small, but we could find protected spots with mellow but fun waves (good for my level). Any discussion of Peniche is incomplete without mentioning Supertubos - a stunning kamikaze barrel spot with monstrous waves that break right next to the beach on very shallow sand banks. Suicidal if you are not a pro.
As for my level of surfing... well, I found out my take-off was terrible - way too slow, unworkable on larger waves. I also ended up riding at the bottom of the wave much of the time instead of properly going across the middle. The speed is another big issue for me: I ran out of steam many times after the bottom turn (failure to go up the face - again slow take-off leading to a loss of speed). My posture isn't good either. A lot to work on!
But it was fun!
Due to its excellent position, this location catches swell from different directions and you can usually find a spot that works on (nearly) any given day. In the 2 weeks that I spent there, there was only one day that was essentially waveless, and even then we could have gotten a bit more of a swell if we drove farther afield. That's exactly the reason why I went to Peniche in the first place: spots that work under different conditions and are within a 20-minute drive.
The waves were generally good - a couple of times they were a bit too big for me, and once or twice too small, but we could find protected spots with mellow but fun waves (good for my level). Any discussion of Peniche is incomplete without mentioning Supertubos - a stunning kamikaze barrel spot with monstrous waves that break right next to the beach on very shallow sand banks. Suicidal if you are not a pro.
As for my level of surfing... well, I found out my take-off was terrible - way too slow, unworkable on larger waves. I also ended up riding at the bottom of the wave much of the time instead of properly going across the middle. The speed is another big issue for me: I ran out of steam many times after the bottom turn (failure to go up the face - again slow take-off leading to a loss of speed). My posture isn't good either. A lot to work on!
But it was fun!