Ride With Us - Our Epic Surf Adventure

Our Epic Surf Adventure

The Full "Ride With Us" Edit drops here and on our Youtube at 7pm Thursday 27th April 2023

As trips go, ideally you score great waves, with stunning weather in the company of great friends. The surf trip gods shone on us for our latest adventure to Southern Portugal and even better, the great friends we were with happened to be some the best surfers the UK has produced for a good while.

Now this being said, no surf trip would be complete without complications and delays. For us, you may say it’s lucky, but this came in the form of a 3-hour delay on the flight out from Stansted.

Let me take you back a few steps, and we will get to this slight hiccup.

Nine Surfers, One Filmer, Four Days, Two Flights, Three Hire Cars and one location. The goal, create a surf edit based around a variety of UK talent, from the best free surfer in the country, two of the UK’s highest ranked competitive surfers, a couple of very good surfers who hold down day to day jobs and Matt.

Let’s quickly introduce who came on the trip.

Firstly, Jake, the Filmer. Like a ghost Jake captured every minute of this trip without us even knowing a camera was rolling. Easily the hardest working member to be part of this but this did not stop him having fun. He might have some terrible tan lines now, but he knows it was worth it.

Then the surfers, needing no introduction, they were as follows: Harry Timson, Patrick Langdon-Dark, Logan Nicol, Rosie O’Neill, Sophie Williamson, Callum Thomas & the Ellman-Brown brothers Tim and Richard, who are now the Hellman-Brown brothers from their send it attitude.

Last but no means least, Matthew Hayes. The mullet headed team manager who made sure everything was in place for every surfer and Jake alike. No stone left unturned, and he managed to snag a few waves once all was said and done too.

With charts lighting up for a long weekend, it was arranged that this Motley Crew would fly out to Portugal, Southern to be exact, with the goal of scoring a variety of waves and making the best edit this country has produced for a long while. We think we have exceeded this goal.

This is where the hiccup comes in. The 9 surfers converge on London Stansted, four from Cornwall, three from Wales and the rest from West Sussex! Surprisingly checking in goes smoothly, even with Logan Nicol having a board bag weighing close to 40kgs!  

Flight due to be leaving the ground at 8.40pm, with a flight time of just over 2 hours and 20 minutes and no time change between the UK and the Algarve, we were due to land at roughly 11pm… Until we hear that the flight has pushed back 3 hours. During this delay the time is taking up talking all things surfing and planning the 6am dawn surf for the next day…

Our destination in Portugal was the incredible Pure Surf Villa in Zavial. This is roughly a 90-minute drive from Faro Airport. Our amazing host Eric was set to greet us at the original time of 12pm… after the delay, we arrived at the Villa at 4am, and Eric waiting up for us! This was just the start of how exemplary the level of service that we would have during our stay.

The plan for the 6am dawnie never waiver. After 2 hours sleep, alarms were going off. From the beautiful villa, it was only a 3-minute drive to the incredible beach of Zavial. When we arrive, we can see waves on the beach but the gems where hidden by a cliff. All of us rush up the rocky cliff to see perfection. To quote Callum, “The waves where 4-6ft and chicken and bacon stacked!”. The bonus, only 3 locals out.

A right hand, sand bottom point break wave that allows for lip hits and big turns, the surfers go to work.

One of the huge appeals of travelling to the Southwest of Portugal is the variety of waves. Littered with spots all over the south coast and west coast you are almost certain to score a wave! We surfed Zavial first, mainly due to the proximity of the wave.

After scoring clean right-hand walls, it was back to Pure Surf Camp, for the most insane breakfast spread you could ask for! Once refuelled with coffee and food, the next stop was Beliche. Pulling up into the gravel car park, you can step out of your car, peer off of the cliff and see this wave in all its beauty. A wedgy A frame wave that offers quick pits and sections to punt or hit a turn. Once again, the Wave God’s were on our side, we scored classic beach break waves and this session, Patrick Langdon-Dark went to town on this wave, from airs to wrapping carves, it was a delight to witness.

Everyone was trading waves and smiles; the session was a strong 3 hours long.

Day one finished with another session back at Zavial. High tide and pumping, we were all cooked, but we couldn’t say no!

Any surfer knows, after a long, hot day of surfing, the meal you have that evening has to be elite. The team at Pure Surf did not let us down at all. Sandy and sunburnt we arrived back at the Pure Surf Villa to be told its BBQ night. Burgers, and we are talking big burgers, with all the trimmings! Not just this but what seemed to be a bottomless supply of potato wedges and salad too! Also, key to note, Pure had catered for all and Vegan and Vegetarian options were given too!

On the trip, Harry Timson took up the role as head forecaster. The charts for Saturday were showing a jump in swell size. On Harry’s call, the spot to first hit on Saturday morning was Tonel, get the step up’s ready! A west facing beach on the south of Portugal. Tonel is a magnet for bigger swells. 6am alarms fresh in our ears, cars loaded and off we went, we arrived at Tonel to a blanket of THICK fog! You could hear waves cranking but couldn’t see further then 3ft!

A quick 30-minute coffee shop visit to let the fog clear was decided, then back to the beach… the fog had cleared, and Tonel was FIRING! Spitting beach break barrels as far as you could see!

The heaviest wave we surfed for sure, Tonel lived up to hype. From big barrels to huge airs, Tonel was phenomenal.

To make the most of every second after Tonel, we then surfed Beliche all day, the entire squad scoring, even Jake, our dedicated Filmer got into the water, although he almost drowning in the rip when shooting from the water. Its safe to say we clocked up 7 or 8 hours surfing in the day! Pure once again put on an incredible dinner, Saturday is Pasta night, we devoured this, as a group watched the WSL highlights, and all anticipated a big Sunday!

Waking up Sunday, the plan was still the same, surf as much as we can. Friday and Saturday were so jammed packed we had not had time to even take in how stunning the Pure Surf Camp at Ingrina is. Set in a beautiful location, the service is impeccable, and the facilities are above and beyond expectation. What more could you want, the villa has a gym, swimming pool, hot tub, yoga area, huge sun beds and much more too!

After another world class breakfast spread, we had a final day to make the most of the waves. We went from Zavial first thing back to Beliche and then back for a final session at Zavial. The waves where clean and 4ft all day! Ideal.

One final dinner, the crew headed into Lagos to have a final dinner, reflect on the waves, and trip highlights and ultimately have a hilarious recap on an amazing trip.

It would be amiss of us not to just once again mention how amazing the Pure Surf Villa is. It has everything and more. The location is perfection. The hosts and staff are beyond helpful and welcoming. The food and drink were 5* hotel quality. The facilities on hand are excellent. We all will be heading back without a doubt. Check it out here:

https://www.puresurfcamps.com/en/surf-camps/surf-camps-portugal/surf-lodge-portugal/

Traveling to and around Portugal’s south coast couldn’t be easier. Hire cars are a norm, the roads are friendly and pricing of accommodation, hire cars, food and everything else is extremely cheap compared to other European destinations.

We would like to thank Pure Surf for the accommodation. Along with this, we want to thank FCS, Ocean & Earth, Xcel, NSP and Futures for all the support and making this trip be as incredible as it was. Lastly, we want to thank the Portuguese locals who were super welcoming, allowing us to share their waves with them.

If you are thinking of a trip to Pure Surf at Zavial or Portugal in general, we have put together a guide on what our tips and tricks would be.

What To Take On A Trip To Portugal

Depending on the time of year and swell the below could change, but working on the premise that a good to decent forecast is on the card, then we would go for the below.

For boards, a two-board quiver should have you covered.

For the daily shortboard, we would suggest models like:

Pyzel Phantom

Channel Islands Happy Everyday

Firewire Dominator 2.0

Lost X Libtech Little Wing

Pairing a “step up” model with these would give you two board quiver covering all wave styles.

Think boards like:

Pyzel Ghost

Lost X Libtech Quiver Killer

Lost X Libtech Sabo Taj

Once you have your boards sorted, the next most important part is what you carry them in. Both Ocean & Earth and FCS are leading the way for multiple board travel bags. Giving you the best protection for your boards, while being made with materials that will ensure the bags last many, many trips there are vital.

We advise going a touch bigger than the bigger board in the bag. This way you can add some extra protection in the form of a wetsuit or two, a towel and even some clothes to ensure the boards survive the trip.

With this, mentioning wetsuits, this is fully dependent on the time of year. It is unlikely you ever need a suit thicker than 4/3 for Portugal. If you travel in late March like we did, the choice was a 4/3mm suit for early surfs and 3/2mm suits for the days and this worked perfectly!

When travelling too almost anywhere, being over prepared is always best! With this in mind, we highly suggest travelling with at least one more leash than boards you have. For a two-board quiver, take 3 leashes, you do not want to snap a couple and then be in trouble!

A similar mindset with fins, almost take a spare set, you can lose, damage, or have issues with a fin, if that happens and you have no spare, you will kick yourself.

Hiring a car would be a must for a surf trip to the southern region of Portugal, it allows access to all the fantastic surf spots that litter the coastline. You want to make sure you get that deposit back, so take a Soft Rook Rack to transport your boards around with you. We tested the FCS & Ocean & Earth racks on our trip, and both passed the test with flying colours. These roof rack systems are so easy and simple to use and protect your car and your boards.

Another imperative article you need to ensure you have is a lock box! If you need a safe and secure place for your keys, when travelling you do not want to use the old, tuck it behind the wheel trick. Grab yourself a lock box, these are simple and easy to use, compact so travelling with them is easy and it gives you the piece of mind so you can focus on the waves!

Learning from our trip, two of the most vital pieces of equipment from us, were a changing robe and a wetsuit bag/changing mat. You will find most of the time getting changed in car parks or on the beach, the ground is not even and wrapping a towel increases the chance of flashing someone, whereas a changing robe makes it easy and simple! Underrated in how useful these are, it is something we would not travel without.

Alongside the robe a wetsuit bag, to store your wet, sandy wetsuit in will become a godsend. It ensures your hire car is clean and keeps all your dry gear separate too! FCS & Ocean & Earth both have wetsuit buckets, which you can use as a changing mat, to stop your wetsuit getting filthy, and then this is your wetsuit bag to protect the car and other bits! Again, we would never travel without this now.

This covers almost everything you would need but there are still some key ingredients that you can’t forget.

Firstly, WAX! It was surprising that there are not too many surf shops around so if you forget wax, it might mean a wild goose chase around Portugal.

Last but not least, repair kit! Take an Ocean & Earth repair kit. If you ding your board, you can literally use these to fix your board at the beach and within 10 minutes you’ll be surfing again.

We think this will just about cover you and ensure you have the best time possible. Don’t forget to grab a good sun scream to protect yourself too!

If this is useful and you then book a trip and use this, let us know! Share that stoke! For any other help, on boards, what to travel with or general surfing question, please do not hesitate to email us, call us or reach out on social media channels and we will be glad to help!