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TRAVELLER
A FEW YEARS BACK,
surf megabrand Billabong
came up with a new advertising slogan. Written
beneath an image of sun-drenched, flawless waves,
the words, “Only a surfer knows the feeling”, seemed
to capture the thrill of gliding across moving walls of
water. Right now, I’m beginning to wonder whether it
could equally refer to another emotion: fear.
It’s a bright crisp morning and pulses of clean swell
from a long-distant storm are pumping into Coxos bay
near Ericeira, 50 minutes’ drive from Lisbon. Every
few minutes, a larger wave looms in the open Atlantic,
jacks up in the shallows, then detonates on a reef that
mingled with tousle-haired surfers at a dedication
ceremony. “This is a magical place,” said Will Henry,
founder of Save The Waves Coalition, the non-profit
organisation that established the reserve programme
in 2009 to safeguard the world’s best surf spots.
Without doubt, the Ericeira region has the finest
surf coast of continental Europe, reckons Luke Budd,
South African shaper (ie, maker) for local surfboard
manufacturer Board Culture. “I’m from Durban – the
Golden Mile, home break of some surfing legends,” he
says, “but within 10 to 15 minutes’ drive from here are
four or five world-class surf locations. That’s unique
“Within 10 to 15minutes’ drive fromhere
are four or five world-class surf spots”
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LISBON
edges the bay, unfurling almost mechanically in a roar
of galloping foam. A chorus of hoots erupt from local
surfers whenever someone claws over the lip of one of
these monsters and rips across the face.
In surf slang, Coxos is ‘going off ’. The waves are
easily double-overhead (that’s surfer talk for 2m),
often larger. Of the 20 or so riders strung along the
foreshore, I am the furthest from the take-off zone
– the bottom of the pile in surfing hierarchy – and
that suits me fine. Every surfer has had their nerves
shredded by the power of the ocean at some point.
Well, mine are in tatters now. It shouldn’t really come
as a surprise: Coxos is the most celebrated break of the
most celebrated surf spot in Europe.
Back on 14 October last year, over 40 surfers
paddled out into the sea at Ribeira d’Ilhas beach
to mark Ericeira’s accreditation as Europe’s first
World Surf Reserve – one of only four such reserves
worldwide. Later, military brass and politicians
and it makes this a playground for advanced surfers,
but also good for learners, because the water is quite
warm, even in winter.”
This coast is battered by everything the Atlantic
can hurl, from knee-high ripples to extraordinarily
big waves, such as the 30m wall of water ridden by
Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara just north of
Ericeira last November. Couple that with suitable
geology – flat reefs jut from the cliffs that sawtooth
this coast, creating the perfect conditions for big waves
– and you have surf nirvana. Within the World Surf
Reserve area – a 4km stretch from Empa Bay on the
outskirts of Ericeira to São Lourenço beach – are at
least nine reef breaks, with something, it must be said,
for every level of surfer.
It’s eight years since my last visit and in that time
the town has acquired a sheen of surfing cool. Its
core remains a knot of historic lanes above the
harbour, but beyond the fishermen’s houses you’ll