Coxos

Surf Guide

To view live HD surf cams in Portugal near this spot, CLICK HERE. Coxos is the crown jewel of Portugal -- Europe's best right. It's ironic, actually, because it was one of the last "discoveries" in the Ericiera area. A small group of surfers managed to keep it secret for years until, in the mid-'80s, guys like Nick Uricchio managed to follow 'em down the farmer's track and were absolutely blown away with what they saw. It was only a matter of time till word got out, and though there are not really any contests at Coxos, it's very rare to strike it good and uncrowded. The wave -- which is like a reef/pointbreak -- breaks along a shallow rock shelf into a very small bay. Swells muscle their way in from deep water just offshore and form into these fast-moving symmetrical right walls that seem to concentrate all their power into the base of the wave rather than the lip, similar to many Hawaiian waves. There's no easy entry at Coxos: you've got to paddle like mad, get to your feet and start driving, otherwise you'll get sucked over and -- you guessed it -- end up on the reef. If you do it right, though, it's the best barrel in Europe. Put it this way: Aussie traveler Daf Williams -- who'd just returned from four months in Indo and two months at J-Bay -- got three tubes on one 8-foot wave at Coxos, smashed his 7'0" into three pieces on the rocks, came in and said, "That's the best tube I've ever got. I'm going home."