Portugal’s Monster Wave Mecca, Nazaré By N AZARE W AVES . COM || Made by people who love Nazaré
Close your eyes and imagine inhabitants of the small fishing village of Nazaré, Portugal standing atop Fort São Miguel Arcanjo, built in 1577, on an autumn/winter day watching a nearly 10-story wave approach. Many a fisherman’s wife was made a widow by these unpredictable monsters tossing small fishing boats against the craggy cliffs. Sítio da Nazaré, the 360 foot (110 meter) promontory where the fort (and now lighthouse) sits, separates two very different beaches. South of the lighthouse is a quieter beach, the main beach of Nazaré. But to the north of the lighthouse, the North Beach (Praia do Norte) has an angrier temperament due to the Nazaré North Canyon, one of the largest submarine canyons in Europe, a giant hole in the bottom of the sea 140 miles (230 kilometers) long with a maximum depth of 16,000 feet (5,000 meters). Shrouded in mystery, the Canyon belongs to a complex geological area perhaps related to the Nazaré fault, a fracture zone with movements that can cause earthquakes. With a deceitful topography, this giant submarine valley is able to change the direction and speed of the waves as they travel through the Canyon. The exit of those waves is not a peaceful one, as if it were a conspiracy, the inconceivable happens — a powerful wall of water, sometimes as tall as a 10-story building.
Predicting Big Waves
Learn about the North Canyon in this excellent video.
With the combination of several elements of nature, the Canyon’s presence creates special conditions for the build up of big waves. It will split a wave into two, increase the speed of the wave that travels the Canyon, and reunite them. The opposite ocean current coming from the beach also adds a few more meters. The right conditions – a wave period greater than or equal to 14 seconds, the predicted wave size above four meters (to the Nazaré zone), the wind (ideally weak), and the direction of the wave (ideally from W/ NW) — can amplify the wave size forecasts by three times. North Atlantic storms occurring during the autumn and winter are another important factor, bringing considerable swells to the Canyon. An innocent wave, destined for Nazaré, can triple in height.
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Riding the Waves In 2005, Narzaréan body boarder Dino Casimiro reached out to big wave surfing icon Garrett McNamara, famous for riding big waves worldwide and always searching for a bigger wave. Crickets. It wasn’t until 2010 that McNamara and Casimiro met up in Nazaré. Awed and astonished, McNamara accepted the invitation to explore the infamous Nazaré waves, looking for big wave event potential. In 2011 McNamara rode a 78-foot (23.77m) wave, taking the world record and remaining the record holder until 2017. That’s when Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa surfed the biggest wave ever surfed at 80-feet (24.38m).
