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LISBON
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TRAVELLER
now find the largest Quiksilver store in Europe, as
well as five other surf shops and over 30 surf schools.
The Ecosound eco-resort nearby, with its charming
wooden lodges, and the Vila Galé 4-star hotel are a
sure sign the area has embraced the 21st century. In
fact, it’s now possible to book the whole caboodle –
accommodation, surf lessons, guide – all together
through SurfHolidays (
surfholidays.com
).
Everyone in Ericeira recognises the value of
surfing now, even the local council, says Ulisses
Reis, 48-year-old owner of Blue Ocean Surf School
(
ericeirablueocean.blogspot.co.uk
). Ulisses is my guide
to the waves he has surfed since the late 1970s. Heady
days, when Portuguese surfing was in its infancy and
surfing was a byword for counter-culture. “It was
beautiful here 35 years ago, man,” he says wistfully.
“We would camp behind the beach for three months
over summer – no responsibilities, no job, just a
smoke, some drinks.... Australians and Americans
would come up fromMorocco in VW Kombis and
sell us boards. There would be 10 guys out max,
sometimes none. Just beautiful, man.”
I’m quietly relieved that we decide against riding
the first wave we visit, Pedra Branca at Praia da
Empa. Not only is it large and fast, but the way the
swell slops onto the nearby rocks suggests you’d pay
for a mistimed take-off with a brutal pummelling. So
we cross a headland towards Ribeira d’Ilhas. White
lines are peeling across the bay as we round the cliff.
This is the approachable face of the surf reserve, yet it
still packs a punch. The swell is heavier than it looks
and rip currents pull across the bay. Finally a peak
approaches: shoulder high, a tiddler by local standards.
I turn, the board skims as the wave rears, then I’m
riding across a clean face that unfurls lazily right.
Elation does not begin to cover it.
Of course, fame has its downsides. Up to 100 surfers
can crowd Ribeira when small summer waves allow
any wannabe in a wetsuit to have a go. A madhouse in
August, says one local surfer. I expect Ulisses to add to
the grumbles that Ericeira’s new cachet will only make
things worse. Instead, he welcomes the prestige – and
the fact it gives locals a degree of power in protecting
the area. If the World Surf Reserve was only good for
surfers, there would be little political interest. Now
that visiting boarders mean holiday bucks for the local
economy too, the surf community is charged with
policing the area – making sure nothing is done to
jeopardise the reserve status, which can be withdrawn
at any time.
If Ribeira has the fame, Coxos has the kudos. Over
the next headland, at the end of a dirt track, it isn’t
much to look at – not that anyone comes for looks.
“Coxos is
sagrada
, man. You know, sacred, like God,”
Ulisses says. “No one messes with Coxos. I’ve taken
people out here – good, advanced surfers – and they
got chewed by this wave.” Coxos holds triple, even
quadruple-overhead waves. Crazy Left, Coxos’s mirror
on the opposite side of the bay, is equally unforgiving.
The next morning in Ericeira, clean lines are
wrapping around the harbour wall. Not big, a local
reassures, so I grab my board and return to pay
homage to Coxos. ‘Big’, it turns out, is subjective, which
is how I come to be at the end of a line-up, wishing
discretion had been the better part of valour. A surf
guidebook describes the wave here as “unforgiving,
powerful and humbling on big days – always fun”.
Only a surfer knows that feeling.