Portuguese Road Trip - Nazare to Sagres

Nazare
As Autumn turns into winter the water gets a little bit chillier and the swell increases from all directions thanks to hurricanes and huge changes in pressure out in the Atlantic. For us, this makes coasteering more difficult and sporadic. However, we still try and get ourselves coasteering as often as the conditions allow us to.

The end of October saw huge Atlantic swells rolling in towards Sagres, which completely rules out coasteering and restricted access to most sea cliff climbs. It was definitely the time to surf.

But it wasn't just Sagres that saw massive waves from the swell. Nazare, home to the world's biggest wave was also going off calling for the world's best big wave surfers to come and test their nerve against the mountain of water. Because coasteering was impossible, we decided to head up to Nazare and check it out.

Whilst we arrived to day after the XXL waves, we did manage to see some incredible athletes doing incredible things on waves the size of tower blocks.

The waves, though not as big as they can be, were huge. As they weren't at their maximum size, it meant that the surfers getting towed in on jet skis could pull off some big turns and cut-backs, which was reallu impressive to watch from the lighthouse.

Anybody who is looking for things to do in Portugal or during a Portuguese road trip should definitely check out Nazare, even if he swell is small. The town is really beautiful and Praia do Norte is spectacular, even without monster waves.

Nazare waves

Peniche
The next stop on our journey back down to the Algarve was Peniche. It's not too far away to drive (it's located pretty much in the middle of Nazare and Lisbon) and has a really great surf scene. Peniche is a peninsula, surrounded by excellent beaches and surf spots which all work differently in different conditions and with varying swells and winds, meaning that you'll always find a wave somewhere. Its convenience for surfers also means that certain breaks get incredibly busy and crowds in the water can be large. However, Peniche is still a great place to try out a surf lesson or find another beach activity.

Peniche waterfront

Ericeira
Directly North-West of Lisbon is the town of Ericeira. With a stunning old town and a lively restaurant and bar scene, it's a must-visit if you're driving through. It has excellent scenery, great beaches, beautiful old squares and architecture and really nice waves. We stayed with a friend who lives just outside the town who showed us some of the nicest spots in Ericeira, but even without a local guide, you can get happily lost in the backstreets and find something incredible to look at or a great restaurant or bar to pass a few hours in.

Ericeira - one of Portugal's best surf towns

Sessimbra
After driving through the beautiful countryside surrounding Sintra and through Cascais and Lisbon, we headed towards Sessimbra to see the incredible coastline there. The scenery is awesome and looked like a perfect place to go coasteering. Next to Sessimbra is Arrabida, a natural park with some really stunning cliffs, caves and rocky outcrops and islands which looks fascinating. I was keen to explore but the days are getting shorter and the water is getting colder now that we're approaching winter. Hopefully next time, we'll be able to explore and find some cliff jumping and rock climbing in the area.

Arrabida

 
Alentejo
Perhaps the most beautiful part of Portugal and a must see for anyone visiting the Algarve - it's definitely worth a trip. Alentejo is largely rural with some authentically traditional and beautiful Portuguese towns like Vila Nova de Milfontes and Porto Covo. We had an awesome few days exploring the coastline and going in land to find forests and streams before heading back home to the Algarve.

Vila Nova de Milfontes

Back home in Sagres, it's now time to prepare for the winter and next summer. For all coasteering adventure enquiries and booking information, don't hesitate to get in touch. 

This blog post was made with the support and partnership of the guys at Algarve Tips. Check out their website on the link before for the best ideas of things to do, places to visit and great activities in the Algarve.