Nazare

Best Surf Season (October - March)

The North Atlantic roars back to life in October, when the first deep extratropical cyclones begin rolling through the eastern Atlantic. Average swell heights climb from the summer doldrums to 6-8ft (1.8-2.4m) and periods push back above 11 seconds. The heart of winter, December through February, is the real peak: average combined swell sits at 7-8ft (2.1-2.4m), the wave period hovers around 13 seconds, and offshore easterly wind blows 46-51 percent of the time. This is when Nazare lives up to its XXL reputation, especially when the North Atlantic Oscillation aligns the storm track to deliver clean W/WNW groundswell into the canyon. The beach faces WSW, so west and west-northwest swell is the key; a good chunk of winter also arrives as strong NW/NNW swell that wraps and refracts in, but true W-WNW is the gold standard.