Portugal is, if you’re me at least, the best place in the world. The food is incredible, the culture is wonderful, the wine is cheap, the waves are amazing. The beaches beautiful, the weather just perfect. There are real castles with real turrets, cobblestone streets, statues upon statues, and everyone, it seems, is always smiling.
The last time I was there, I surfed a session at Coxos. Across the bay, I could see a slab that looked incredibly uninviting — to me, anyway. Balaram Stack was staring at it like he wanted to eat it. So while I got my ass handed to me at Coxos (heavier than I’d imagined), he went over there and, I can only assume, got incredibly barreled. That wave, as you’ve likely guessed by now, was The Cave. Or just Cave. I remember some conversation about that in the van on the way back to the hotel, but either way.
According to Nathan Florence, it’s the one place that John John Florence has been knocked out by a reef. “He said he was knocked unconscious here surfing alone; woke up underwater and made his way in safely,” Nathan said, “but he definitely warned me that the wave is gnarly.”
Nic von Rupp, a man who has likely surfed every wave Portugal has to offer, thinks it might be the most dangerous wave in the whole country. So of course, Nate had to surf it.
