Trip route
A week surfing the Algarve
Base in Lagos or Sagres, chase the wind between two coastlines, and use the west-coast beaches when the south goes flat.
The Algarve is the warm-water, light-wind option, but its south-facing coast is fickle and can go flat for days in summer. The trick is to be mobile and read the wind. A car is close to essential.
Where to base
Lagos for a mixed surf-and-beach trip with a town and nightlife; Sagres for a tighter, surf-focused week with camps and hostels and both coastlines on the doorstep. From Lagos it is about five minutes to Meia Praia, 30 to Arrifana, 35 to Amado; from Sagres the Tonel, Mareta and Beliche beaches are a walk or a short drive.
The plan
On a small south swell or a flat forecast, learners use Meia Praia in Lagos or Mareta in Sagres, both sheltered. When a proper west or north-west swell arrives, move to the exposed beaches: Tonel and Beliche around Sagres, and Praia do Amado and Arrifana to the north, which are the region's most consistent waves. Surf these in the morning; the thermal north-west wind builds through the afternoon and turns them choppy.
Worth the drive
Cabo de São Vicente, the southwestern tip of Europe, at sunset. Zavial, a quieter cove east of Sagres that works on the same swells.
When to go
Autumn to spring for the best chance of west-coast swell and the fewest people. Summer is warm and reliable for lessons but often small, and the beaches near Lagos get busy with holidaymakers.
Spots in this guide
Sagres
Tonel
The west-facing beach at Sagres, a short walk from town. Far more exposed than the south-coast beaches, so it holds swell when everywhere sheltered is flat, but it is powerful and shifty.
IntermediatesAutumn to spring; the west coast is biggest and cleanest then
Mareta
The south-facing town beach at Sagres, tucked out of the west wind and swell. Gentle and forgiving, the main learner wave in Sagres and the go-to when the west coast is too big or too windy.
BeginnersAutumn to spring for swell; sheltered enough to surf on windy west-coast days
Beliche
A cliff-ringed beach between Sagres and Cabo de São Vicente, reached by a long stairway. More exposed and more powerful than Tonel, with a fast, hollow wave for confident surfers.
Advanced surfersAutumn to spring
Meia Praia
A long, sheltered sandy beach on the south coast at Lagos, gentle and shallow-gradient. A fine learner wave when the south coast has swell, which is the catch: it is flat far more than it breaks.
BeginnersAutumn to spring, and on rare summer south swells
Arrifana
A cliff-ringed bay near Aljezur, partly protected by a headland and an offshore rock stack. That shelter makes it one of the more forgiving spots on an otherwise heavy stretch of the west coast.
IntermediatesAutumn to spring; workable much of the yearGuides
See more
A 7-day surf trip down the Silver Coast
The straightforward one-week route through the heart of Portuguese surf: Peniche and Baleal, then south to Ericeira, with Santa Cruz as the quiet card in the middle.
A long weekend surfing Ericeira
Three or four days in the World Surfing Reserve, no car needed, with a plan that scales from first lessons to the reefs.
Where to surf near Lisbon
The city has four very different surf beaches within an hour, plus Ericeira a little further. Which one to pick, by wind, swell and level.