Photo: Carlos Pinto

This was shot at Azarujinha beach. It’s a small little beach near the famous Praia da Poça in Estoril. This was on a really sunny warm day in late spring, with some west swell so it was too big to surf at Guincho (my local) but every spot from Cascais to Carcavelos was working. I was with Vasco looking around for waves and ended up at this spot, which is about 5 minutes walk from Vasco’s grandpa’s restaurant. The wave is hard to read but it’s a fun little left that comes all the way to a little sand and rock beach, it’s best at 3ft, after that it starts to close out. Some of the locals were out but Vasco is also a local too, so we were all good.

Spring is one of my favourite seasons to surf in Portugal. Plenty of swell, the days get warmer and the winds are still good. Summer is pretty fun as well but we have a lot of devil north wind, but still, there’s always something fun around Praia Grande or Ericeira beachies.

Fortunately I was in Bali when the July doldrums hit. It was pretty lucky because I had already booked my trip with my girlfriend and as soon as we arrived in Bali, the flat days arrived in Portugal. But had I been at home, I’d have spent my time playing tennis or something.