Costa da Caparica — Surfing In The Southern Outskirts of Lisbon
Costa da Caparica offers decent waves close to Lisbon. Crowded yet charming. Many restaurant and hotel options and in winter very calm.
The beach on a flat and busy summer day [image by author]
Costa da Caparica is a spot I keep coming back to. I like the waves, the proximity to Lisbon, the great food options and an okay connection (the best you can expect in Portugal) to the city via public transport.
The surf
Let’s start with the surf. Around Lisbon, there is no shortage of amazing surf spots, such as the coastline towards Cascais, the Sintra coast, Ericeira (an absolute gem) and, towards the South, Costa da Caparica.
Costa da Caparica lies less exposed to the main swells of the coast. In Portugal, they typically come from a north-western direction. If you look at a map, you can see that Ericeira and the Sintra area get the front seat for swell. This leads to massive swell during the winter season. If like me, you are an intermediate surfer and prefer making sure you don’t accidentally kill yourself, Cascais (I am thinking of spots such as Carcavelhos) and Costa da Caparica are good options.
