A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Along with having one of Europe's best surfing coastlines, Portugal is also home to one of the world's fastest-growing surf cultures. Portugal has ridable surf all year, but the biggest and most consistent waves arrive from October to March, in response to the North Atlantic storm season. 

The country's 530-mile coast can be divided into two surfing areas: the mountainous and craggy region north of Lisbon is rich in surf—including a handful of world-class breaks—and can be rainy and cool; the rolling bay-lined coast south of Lisbon has a Mediterranean climate and fewer surf spots, many of which break only in winter. Coxos, a fast and hollow right-breaking reef/point, located 30 miles northwest of Lisbon, is Portugal's best and best-known surf spot. Other spots include Cabedelo, a wedging jetty break in Figueira da Foz; the sand-bottom tubes at Lisbon's Carcavelos; and the rock-lined point surf at Arrifana in the south. 

Portugal also governs two sets of Atlantic islands, Madeira and the Azores, both more than 500 miles off the coast, volcanic in origin, and containing a small number of first-rate surf breaks. The air temperature in Portugal ranges from the low 50s in winter to the high 70s in summer, while the water stays cool all year—between 52 in winter and 67 in summer—due to upwelling and chilly north-to-south Atlantic currents. Hazards include urchins and sharp volcanic rock reefs. 

The Portuguese surf was first ridden by native-born sailor Pedro Martins de Lima and Olympic pentathlete Antonio Jonet, who brought a wooden surfboard back from a visit to Hawaii in 1958 and began surfing at Costa de Caprica, just south of Lisbon. (Martins was still surfing as of 2002.) 

Portugal came to the attention of the surf media in the late '60s and early '70s, first in a small number of magazine articles, then in two of the era's most popular surf films, Evolution (1969) and Waves of Change (1970). The first Portuguese surf contest was held in 1977, at Ribeira D'ilhas in Ericeira; the Portuguese Surfing Federation was founded in 1988; the first surf shops opened in the early 1980s. The Buondi Pro, held in 1989 and 1990 in the Portuguese surf capital of Ericeira, near Lisbon, brought world tour competition to Portugal; the Figueira Pro, held in Figueira da Foz, has been part of the pro tour since 1996. Portugal hosted the 1998 World Surfing Games. 

As of 2003, Portugal was home to about two dozen surf shops, six surf camps, and 20,000 resident surfers and bodyboarders. "Surfers here don't travel much," according to João Valente, editor of the 1987-founded Surf Portugal magazine. "They know how good they have it in their backyard." 

Tiago Pires, the country's top surfer, won rookie-of-the-year honors in the 2000 Triple Crown series in Hawaii. The Portuguese Surfing Federation runs about 40 regional and national contests annually, with no distinction made between professionals and amateurs. American-born Nick Uricchio of Semente Surfboards, in Ericeira, has meanwhile become one of Europe's best-known surfboard shapers. Portugal has been featured in over a dozen films and videos, including Lost . . . on the Road with Spike (1995), Bliss (1996), and E2K (2000). The Portuguese surf is detailed in The Stormrider Guide Europe (1998). 

Portugal

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