Storm Éowyn delivered incredible waves to the legendary coast of Nazaré, Portugal. Photo: Screenshot//YouTube
When winter in Portugal rolls around, all eyes turn to Nazaré. Portugal, as you know, has plenty of other amazing waves — for my money, it’s one of the best surf trips a person can do — but Nazaré has a certain something that all those other waves don’t. It’s so big when the outside is working that it’s more akin to snowboarding than it is to surfing. And on January 25, it was… big. Not as big as it can get, but big all the same.
“Storm Éowyn delivered incredible waves to the legendary coast of Nazaré, Portugal, and I was lucky enough to capture it all from above,” wrote Alvaro Bajo. “This drone footage showcases the raw power of the ocean and the bravery of the surfers who dared to take on these massive waves.”
Nazaré is known to surfers for the wave that breaks off that famous lighthouse, but it’s a lot more than just the wave. A few months ago, back in October, I was there for a vacation. It was my first time there not actively working on a story, but that trip happened to coincide with the first real swell of the season. I hadn’t planned on doing anything in Nazaré other than eating, drinking, surfing, and exploring, but the town itself wrapped its fingers around me. Add that to the fact that Mason Barnes walked into the same restaurant as me and I felt the need to tell the world just how great the little fishing village is.
It’s still relatively early in the big wave season at Nazaré, and if I can give one piece of advice, it’s that you should, at some point in your life, stand on the cliff as surfers get towed into 90-foot waves. It is not a sight you will forget.
