Keep up with the adventure
One day I realized I needed to go. Didn’t know where, just go.
So I packed my car with my surfboard, a bag of clothes and my computer.
I had been traveling and surfing in Morocco with some friends, and the city life was not suiting me anymore. I had tasted the freedom of being able to be wherever you want as long as you want. And that’s how I ended up in Sagres.
I was supposed to stay two weeks, I stayed four months.
In Sagres I met this amazing community of adventurers passionated about surfing. In Sagres I met this amazing lifestyle which combines surfing, traveling and, in my case, working.
Sagres is the southwest corner of Portugal. There you find surfspots facing south and west, so you always find some wave. You need a car though, if you want more options to surf there. I had a car, so I always had a car full of people to go surf.
I arrived at Funky Monkey, an hostel founded by two spanish friends, Borja and Jesus. The space is amazing, super organized and with lots of lounging space.
I picked this hostel, besides looking amazing in the pictures, for two main reasons:
1st – football table and
2nd – the kitchen table looked good enough to stay hours working.
The place has a bonus: every morning they would tell me the best beach to go surf. Borja always ends by saying “but this is only my opinion, it could be different there”, well, he was rarely wrong, he knows the place.
Sagres was a rollercoaster, few people stay there for long, so I was making friends, seeing them leaving, and making new friends again who also left.
The days in Funky Monkey were amazing, usually I would wake up at 7 work until 11, go surf, have lunch, work, sometimes go surf again, work at night or chill. I have a lot of work to do and I would take breaks to hang out with people or to play Football Table. When the waves weren’t good we would go and explore places around.
First week I met Kari, Marietta and Jury, they were my surfing crew and for a while we would surf together almost everyday.
One day I went with Jury in the morning to check Beliche. Someone told me once “Beliche is the strongest wave in the Algarve”. I didn’t know that at that time, and neither one of us had ever surfed it. The waves were big and noone was there. It was early, so that could be the reason. Jury and I thought: “Why not?” so we got in. After us five more people showed up. As soon as I got in I thought: “Ok, I will get one wave here if I am lucky. It is big and scary.” I got one wave and then I hear Jury: “Alex I broke my board!” my reply being “Jury my face is bleeding” , while trying to leave I was pushed by a wave and scratched my face in the sand. Once we got out of the beach, noone was surfing it anymore.
“Shit this wave is breaking boards”
It seems plenty of adventure for one day but as we got back to the hostel I see Manu leaving in a car with 3 more people from the hostel. Jury didn’t have a board, and I wanted to surf. So I asked if I could join. It also felt good not take my car for once. On the way I realized, we were not 5 people, we were 15 as there were 2 more cars full of people and we were going to a secret beach none of us ever been before. We got the place, we could see the beach down there, only one bodyboarder and good waves. On top of the cliff, 15 surfers looking down, we were the crowd. I didn’t know I was going to climb that day, so I was wearing a long skirt and a bag full of stuff (like a big bottle of water, etc). In conclusion, after a couple of tries we actually found the way down. Bag was ruptured on the way but surfboard was fine. As soon as I am paddling in… rrrrrsssshhhh, I scratch my board on a rock. Waves were good though.
I had been in Sagres for a month when I rented a small apartment where I spent my days working. Friends would knock at my door and ask – “let’s go surf? “ I loved it! Francesca stopped by everyday to tell me the news about the hostel, her love life, eating some jelly and of course, go surf. For a while I would also go surf everyday with Olga and Sam.
Sometimes I would go by myself and what I loved about Sagres is that I would always find someone I knew in the water. It feels like home. Most of the time that person was Juliet, until one day we started to go together as well : )
After a while living by myself I met Charlotte. We went surfing together for the fist time in my favorite spot. But it was big and messy, it was such a challenge, and we were the only ones in the water. That’s when we realized we were a match, after we got out of the water I asked her: “Do you wanna go to Ireland with me? “ She replied: “I was thinking the same! “.
Then I met Cecile, Caco and Jon. Cecile was teaching me how to surfskate while Caco and Jon would play music for us in the street.
Sagres was amazing and I met great people and surfed great waves. It was then time to go and pursue more adventures.
Someone once told me: You go to Sagres and You will never want to leave.
They were right.
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I love the details on each personality, that everyone can bring something new to us and that by sharing their music, these kind souls who went all the way to make playlists for us, allow me and you, to explore the world on another way!
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