Surf Ericeira, Portugal

The coastline north of Ericeira, plenty of peaks
After our four days in Madrid, the next stop on our summer break was a week of surfing at Ericeira, a town just north of Lisbon.  Kate had come to Portugal for a yoga camp in the Algarve and we had become aware of Portugal through magazines such as Monocle which often had features on Porto and Lisbon. 












A typical streetscape in Ericeira (Kate is not typical)
This is in front of the well curated
surf shop MagicQuiver





Initially we were looking to go to Morocco to surf but the conditions there are reputed to be unreliable at this time of year.  We looked at Portugal as a destination and Ericeira emerged as the most reliable destination at this time of year.  Even better, it had recently been announced as a UNESCO World Heritage Surfing site.



















Even the deserted building in the town centre
added a particular charm






On arrival in Lisbon we had organised a driver to provide a transfer to Ericeira which is only 45 km and 30 minutes north of Lisbon.  We had organised an Air BnB and our host, Andre, had a number of apartments just on the edge of the old town.  The apartments were perfect for a beach holiday: tile floors, strong shower, good internet and a well-appointed kitchen.  

















The busy restaurant precinct near
Praca de Republika


More importantly it was only a 5 minute walk from the break of Sao Sebastian, a 7-10 minute walk to the restaurants and bars of the old town, 2 minutes from the bus terminus and a 5 minute bike ride to the yoga studio at the Quicksilver European Flagship Store.

Andre was the best host I have encountered through AirBnB.  As we arrived late in the evening, he had stocked the refrigerator with salami, cheese, bread, fruit, and a bottle of good local dry white wine.  He pointed us in the right direction for bike and surfboard hire at LEA (Liquid Earth Adventures) which was just around the corner and gave us the good oil on the best conditions for the local breaks. 














We ran into Andre and his wife around the town almost every day.  He was in the final stages of converting his families traditional home and boat building shop into a 7 room bed and breakfast.  We enjoyed a complete tour of the conversion and it looks like it would be a great place to stay, particularly with Andre taking care of all the details.

Small waves at Sao Sebastien

There are many breaks along the coast near Ericiera and each break had multiple peaks which mean plenty of options.  That said, you need to be prepared for it to be busy in the water. At some beaches such as Matadouro there could be up to 6 group surf lessons underway with 10 to 15 in each group. 


Kate and I hired bikes and it was the best decision we made during
our stay.  It gave us easy and quick access to the beaches and the yoga

The instructors do a good job of managing their classes but you need to be prepared to either surf early, outside of class time or surf on the slightly harder reef breaks to avoid the crowd.  I surfed at Foz de Lizandro, one of the few beach breaks, which makes it popular, Sao Sebastien a short walk from the accommodation and Ribera d’ Ihaus, one of the most photographed breaks in Europe and the site for the World Surfing league competition in Europe.











Portuguese love their boutique canned fish products.
This is the selection at Mar da Latas and I can
vouch for their quality!



It was unseasonably hot for Ericeira, which is normally cooled by northerly winds and the swell was from the west rather than the north-west which was also unusual for most of the days we had a nice 3-4 feet which was ok for me.  The days settled into a routine which saw Kate and I get up early and ride our bikes to the beach for a couple of hours in the water.  

We would then go back to the apartment, feed Ada and try to get her out of her room and then go to yoga at Quicksilver for an abreviated Ashtanga Primary Series class most days at 11 am which was great.  










The library at Mafra Palace, once one of the largest private
libraries in Europe

The afternoons saw me try to get out for another surf on most days before dinner.  One afternoon we did a side trip to the Mafra Palace, the old and rather grand summer home of the Portuguese royal family.  














It was well worthwhile, a little less polished than some of the royal dwellings that we had seen in Europe but you got a real sense of the day to day workings of a royal residence.  The highlight for me was the infirmary run by the Franciscan monks with a complete kitchen and room for manufacturing the herbal remedies popular at the time.

Ericiera, based on the number of apartments surrounding the old town is obviously popular in summer and there are many restaurants in town. To be honest, we didn’t have great expectations of the food in Portugal based on Kate’s previous experience and the experience of others. We didn’t have a bad meal and certainly had number of very good meals. 
The beach break at Foz de Lizandro closing out on me







Ada and I at Fides Tua
Our favourites were:    

Tik Tak, Both the restaurant and the tapas bar were excellent.  Basic food very well prepared with excellent service and cheap by European standards. Great fish selection at the restaurant and the red mullet, which takes on the flavour of the crustaceans on which is feeds, was a good recommendation!

·    Mars das Latas: A wine and tapas bar with a tremendous sunset view and a great local wine list and plenty of craft beers. The dried tuna, goats cheese and fig jam was a real highlight along with a large selection of specialised Portuguese canned tuna, salmon sardines and mussels.

·    Fides Tua:  A more upmarket offering which has recently opened.  Lovely service and set on one of the many picturesque squares in the town complete with a fish head drinking water fountain.









They love their Acai in Portugal, probably due to their
connection with Brazil, home to the Acai palm.
Acai is even a Portuguese word!
This is the offering from Green is good
·    




Green is Good, which also seems like a new opening.  Great breakfast including a selection of eggs with all the optional accompaniment, beautiful fruit and acai bowls and smoothies.  Acai smoothies (and Brazilian swim suits) are everywhere in Ericeira perhaps due to the connection with Brazil.
 



























Beach chairs at the Kayak Bar.  They had good sangria in a great setting
in the middle of town

The customer service we encountered was universally excellent.  Everyone was friendly and relaxed but still attentive. The Portuguese wine we were served was very good and cheap, our favourites mostly coming from the Duoro region. Our favourite spots for a drink were the Hemmingway Bar, Mar das Latas and the Kayak Bar at the swimming beach in the centre of Ericeira where we had the pleasure of spending two late afternoons in banana lounges drinking sangrias and enjoying the local beach culture










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