October has come and we’re in the last 1,5 months of our surf holiday season here at Watermark Surf House. It has been a busy year, but a fun one. The last full month of the season doesn’t mean the least one though. We have been writing about Porto’s best surf spots for a while, with emphasis on Esmoriz and Espinho because they are close by. Which by the way is not a coincidence. We selected these places, because we think they are the hidden gems in Northern Portugal. We would like to talk some more about Porto surfing in October. Because Esmoriz and Espinho proved to be one of the best places to surf in October, based on different reviews and experiences from us and our guests.
Porto surfing in October
The surfing in October started pretty much as September ended: good waves everywhere, allowing surfers to spread around the different spots in Porto, from the Espinho to the Esmoriz area. Glassy and offshore conditions, along with sunny and warm temperatures (some days it went up to 30 degrees!) made our guest’s desires come true! The biggest crowd we had in this month was around one the best surfing days, but it was far from being annoying as there were lots of surf spots pumping up good waves.
During this first couple of days, waves formed from one meter up to two meters high. Then, some bigger days came up with waves reaching double overhead size easily, meaning challenging conditions to first-timers who tried their luck. But there were still some spots offering some alternatives for our rookie surfers.
“Porto surfing in October is falling, not failing” – Rui Oliveira
The days after that average waves hit the shore. And we dare to say that everyone was happy about it: beginners, intermediates, advanced surfers and also… us surf teachers! Some days we had friendly and mellow half-meter waves. Everybody paddled out to the lineup, making sure they had a piece of it! Surfing lessons were ideal to give on these kind of days and most of our surfers looked like pros.
All October days had one thing in common, even though it had different surfing conditions. Everyone was very motivated to succeed and ride as many waves as they could. Falling sometimes in the process. But that is all part of the experience. We all were basically living each day for it: early morning surf check, surf lesson, tasty food, surf check and some sun at the beach, free surf, relax and talk about the best waves of the day while holding a beer, nice dinner and charge up the batteries for a new day to come. It was not Summer but for sure it feld like it!
Great Surf event
From October 20th till 31st, there was the Meo Rip Curl Pro Peniche competition, the 10th stage of the World Surf League’s Championship Tour. Surf fans from all over the world came to Portugal to watch the elite surfers showcase their surf skills. We wouldn’t want to miss it for the world, so we checked it out! Great waves in different kind of conditions, remarkable performances at Supertubos and a sharp Gabriel Medina taking the title, It was sick!!! Roger M. Jud got some really nice pictures from the main surf action.
October has passed. November arrived and chilled us with colder nights and offshore breezes, still sunny and with some nice temperatures during the day. In between memorable sessions, we had some stormy conditions back home, that made surfing impossible. Those days when Nazaré was sending some huge crackers to the braves.
Porto surfing in October, nooo just kidding 😉
Can we go in for a surf?
Surfing Late October and the beginning of November are known for their unpredictability. One frequent question asked by our guests is something down the lines of:
“There are a couple of surfers there having a lesson. Are you sure we can not go in for a surf aswell?” – guest
Keep in mind that we don’t take any pleasure out of calling a session off. Then again, and most importantly, safety always comes first. Furthermore, we never take anyone for a fool, trying to sell a lesson in non-surfable conditions (except if there’s a specific goal for the lesson, like paddling or duck diving practice). Having a horrible experience in the water is worse than not surfing at all. We love surfing and want to introduce you to our world, not give a bad taste in your mouth about surfing. Nobody wants that, right?! But don’t get us wrong, when flat or too large days come, most of the times we try to go for plan B. We search for a fair alternative to the local Espinho and Esmoriz surf spots. For better or worse, when one spot is bad, another is surf-able. We always check if it is worth it.
Closing out yet another wonderful year of Surfing
Porto surfing in October was great, well that is what our guests said anyways. But everything comes to an end. It’s time to passionately digest the waves ridden in Porto’s best surfing beaches and looking back at all the surfing techniques learned when you were here. And we can do that for hours in a row aswell… not because we have to, but we are students to the game as well . We all operate on different levels, but t’s something that connects us all.
Surfing it’s not everything. Just a big portion 🙂 – Ricardo Rego
Along with our guests, we walked around Porto, hung out in Esmoriz and Espinho, had some really nice conversations during sunsets enjoying the fine food Portugal has to offer here. Nothing better than a delicious warm Portuguese dish after a long day of surfing in the October / November sun.
The Autumn colours made Porto best beaches that much more enchanting, adding some magic to our daily lives and leaving a special mark on our guest’s surfing memories. We could feel the end of the line approaching: the season’s end (November 15th). The daylight got different each day so that we didn’t forget where deep in Fall season. After we closed our doors, temperatures dropped to 5 degrees during some nights and early surf sessions turned out to be harder than they were just some days ago. Winter is coming fast and for now, it’s time to get some waves ourselves. This concludes our story “Porto surfing in October” and is the last one of it’s kind in 2017. Thank you so much for reading.
See you surfers next year
The season was long and for sure amazing! We met people from all over the world and made lot’s of new friends, knowing that they will visit us again in the future. We are very happy with the number of returning guests/ friends in 2017! That should mean something, right?! But you can be sure that, in between waves, we’ll be working to make sure that 2018 gets to become even better!
Someone emailed us recently wondering about a booking for 2018 and asked us what makes us different from others surf houses/ surf camps in Porto area, and Portugal. Our answer:
“ Hello XX (…) there are no secrets – we simply believe that small things matter. In one word, and our main priority: people! That’s what matters most. We want to know more about our visitors, know them by their name, make sure they’ve got all that they need and that feeling they’re getting the most out of their time with us. Most of the times, as a result, more than a normal host-client relationship is established. A closer relationship with our guests is the base of our daily work!”
See you in person from the April 1st ’18. Online we’ll be around…
Keep the surf alive!
Watermark Surf House