Nazaré, Portugal

Nazaré is a relatively small but famous Portuguese village. Its footprint is 82.43 km² with just under 15k inhabitants.

This village is famous for having the highest waves in the world and being frequented by surfers. Peak wave season is in December & January so we didn't see anything over maybe 20 feet. But those would have been more than enough for us after our 1 surfing lesson.

The beach area is naturally partitioned between North and South by a cliff that has an old fortress preached on top called "Farol da Nazaré." It was amazing how the South side was relatively calm, and the North side was filled with massive waves. Even the South side was hazardous when up close. Both Emily and John got a bit more than they bargained for when a wave ended up being a bit more forceful than expected.

The giant waves on the North beach are actually created by a canyon on the South side of the beach. This underwater canyon causes currents to rush up the side wall and collide with other incoming current to create the massive waves.

Pictures don't always do waves justice so we ended up taking a few videos. Here is a collection from our time in Nazaré.
https://youtu.be/MJnzUen20mYRead more