Surfing in the Algarve

Portugal has been attracting surfers to its shores for decades. It offers quality surf year long with excellent sandy beaches and point breaks. It delivers a decent sized surf peak and, with waters never dropping too low, offers a great year-round destination for world-class surf and a wonderful culture to match.

The Algarve is well known amongst the surfing fraternity for its lively Atlantic coastline. The areas with the greatest quality and quantity of waves are the south west of the Algarve and the west coast, going all the way up the country to the border with Spain. The surf found to the far west of the region offers some amazing surfing conditions in a beautiful back drop of cliffs and bays. Swells are generated out of the Atlantic Ocean arriving along the Portuguese coastline with train like regularity and the Algarve benefits even more due to its geographical make up of bays and points. There is surf to suit all standards of surfer in the Algarve. The south coast tends to have nice waves during the bigger winter swells but the further you go away from the west coast, the smaller they become. It is these two very different coasts that make for such a special surfing location. With one coast facing south and the other facing predominantly west, if there is any swell around there will always be waves somewhere. Depending on the swell direction, it only takes an ocean swell of 2 or 3 feet for the better breaks to start working.

Summer on the west coast will usually see clean waves from waist to chest high (depending on the height of the surfer!). Either side of summer, the west coast produces consistent swell that can be nicely over head. The west coast can have regular 15ft swells and Carrapateira has been known to hit 25ft!

With an enviable climate and year round waves the Algarve is fast becoming one of the continent’s most popular surfing destinations. It is also home to one of Europe’s most established surf camps – ‘The Surf Experience’, based in Lagos. Their package includes half-board, transportation, equipment hire, and tuition.

Across the length and breadth of Portugal, surfers of all standards should find what they are looking for. If you want to experience unique European surf in the sun all year long then this should be your first choice.

For property for sale in Portugal, visit The Algarve property web site.