The blue slopes of Nazaré. Sebastian Steudtner.
© Bruno Aleixo
Surfing

Witness the Roaring Return of Nazaré's Thunder

Portugal opens up the big-wave winter with an explosive introduction.
By Andrew Lewis
1 min readPublished on

4 min

Nazare kicks off winter with a roar

The big-wave spoils came early this year at Nazare. Here's an exclusive look.

After the monumental big-wave season the Northern Hemisphere experienced last winter, you might have guessed that the seas would get off to a sleepy start this winter. Not so! We refer you to Exhibit A: Nazaré. Let the clip above and the photos below stand as evidence.
Last week, while the 2016 world tour season was coming to a dramatic climax one short hour down the road in Peniche (Oh, congrats John John!), one of the world's most exciting big waves was also hitting high drama. Veteran surf filmer Alex Laurel, and photographer Bruno Aleixo, were focusing on Andrew Cotton, Carlos Burle, Jamie Mitchell, Sebastian Steudtner, Lucas Chumbinho, Alex Botelho and other coldwater chargers who've made a habit in recent years to not miss a single big swell at "Naz."
Let's hope that this late October swell is the first of many at Nazaré, and for that matter, across the globe in the Pacific Ocean. The North Shore has already seen a solid opening day at Pipeline, so hopes are high! Buckle up, folks.

Part of this story

Andrew Cotton

British big wave surfer Andrew Cotton has put his home nation on the surfing map. A dad and husband, he's sacrificed a lot to get where he is today.

United KingdomUnited Kingdom

Carlos Burle

Brazil's Carlos Burle is a bonafide big wave surfing legend who's been involved with some of the sport's most iconic moments.

BrazilBrazil