Nic von Rupp wants to give the average punter an experience of a lifetime. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Want to, temporarily, be a part of Nic von Rupp’s inner posse during a macking Nazare swell? That experience is now available. It starts with all the buildup. You’d be included in the WhatsApp group during the lead-up to a call to a swell, and once greenlit, you’d make your way to Lisbon, Portugal for a two-day stint. The flights are on your dime, but the transfers and two nights in a hotel are included!
Now, Nic isn’t the first to offer up a VIP Nazare experience. The Portuguese town might be the home of the ultimate surfing side hustle. Surfers would be mad not to skim some revenue on the backs of the interest their big wave surfing has generated. After all, this is a town that attracts more than five million foreign visitors from 120 countries each year.
The 16th-century Michael the Archangel Fort (aka the lighthouse), which had remained closed to the public until 2014, now has 500,000 visitors walk through its doors and check out its surf museum each year. Part tourism project, part big wave experiment, Nazare stands very much alone as a mainstream surfing hotspot.
Like its visitors, the lineup attracts a very different mix of surfers than any other big wave spot. From base jumpers to Brazilians, from Russians to rich Americans, to elite pros and underground nutters, it’s often a weird and wild wave soup. And as a result, there are different revenue streams available.
“Very few surfers get paid to ride big waves, and Nazare is one of the most expensive places to do it,” Andrew “Cotty” Cotton, told The Inertia. “So to fund the passion, most surfers hit the tourism market, be it for experiences for tourists, influencers, media or brands. And sometimes the best pros pay for drivers. They don’t want to be driving or doing safety, and just book a slot. These days, the best drivers earn more money than surfers. And so they should, it’s the most difficult thing to do out there. ”
A recent Economic Impact Study of the WSL in Portugal found the one-day Nazaré Big Wave event generated a €3 million spend in town, with another €8.5m in media value. Another paper found visitors spend a similar amount on non-competition big swell days, of which Nazaré has more than any other big wave spot.
If you were to take Nic’s package, it would be a day considered a big swell day. You’ll be on hand to watch the prep and build up from his Mountain of the Sea warehouse, which we assume, would include free coffee, maybe even a pastry and a close look at the skis, boards and operational base. There are also two hours on the Jet Ski in the “surf zone,” which we hope isn’t deep in the impact zone where the 70-footers are detonating. You sense that it is this experience where punters will get the most bang for their von Rupp buck.
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Assuming you survive the ordeal, you will then be whisked off to the Lighthouse, where you’ll get a front row seat to all the action from the top of the Archangel Fort. It will be just you, 50 spotters, 15 drone operators and the inevitable gaggle of influencers.
Post session, it’s back to the warehouse, where you will reconvene with your host and hero for an in-person debrief and a recovery session. Pack your swimming togs, as there’s a chance for a sauna and a cold plunge. Nic will wash off the few 100-footers he copped to the head, while you can watch him decompress. But not in a creepy way.
Finally, there’s the absolute clincher: sunset drinks and dinner with Nic and his team. His smoldering green eyes come with the package. ‘It’s a pretty high value, high-end experience, which you can’t get anywhere else,” said Cotty. “Good on Nic for making it happen.”
And, if you’ve come this far, the million-dollar question is, how much does it cost? The answer is €6000, or just under $7000 USD. So, would you pay it?
