What is a Nazare wave?
What is a Nazaré wave?
The Nazaré Canyon is the reason why the waves are so big and so high breaking. This makes Nazaré a hotspot for big wave surfing. Although Praia do Norte catches the world attention, Nazaré has not only giant and powerful waves, but also spots and waves accessible to all athletes. And you can also swim in its waters.
What causes the waves in Nazaré?
The size and unpredictability of the waves at Nazaré are caused by a submarine canyon that is 200km long and 5km deep. The difference in depth between the bottom of the canyon and the continental shelf splits waves into two.
How Nazaré waves work?
When shallow bathymetry slows down a part of a wave, this causes the waves to refract. Similar to the way a magnifying glass can bend light to focus it into one bright spot, reefs, sand banks and canyons can focus wave energy toward a single point of the coast. This is what happens at Nazaré to create giant waves.
Is Nazaré a real wave?
The waters off Nazaré, Portugal, cooperate in a big way. Just-right conditions there have churned out some of the largest waves ever surfed. In winter, the waves off North Beach (Praia do Norte) average about 15 meters (50 feet) high. On an exceptional day, surfers can catch a wave towering around 24 meters (80 feet).
What is Nazaré known for?
These days, Nazaré’s major attractions are the waves and surfing, thanks to the “Nazaré Canyon”, a submarine geomorphological phenomenon that allows the formation of perfect giant waves. It is the largest underwater canyon in Europe, about 170 kilometres along the coast, reaching a depth of 5,000 metres.
Is Nazaré the biggest wave?
After Garrett McNamara made the giant waves of Praia do Norte famous with the first record set in 2011, the mayor guarantees that whenever he participates in events abroad, “Nazaré is the second largest Portuguese brand, only surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo”.
Can you swim at Nazaré?
Swimming is possible in Nazaré, but look for a more protected spot (in the direction of the cliffs) and keep an eye on the warning flags – the waves by the beach looked quite big even in spring.
Has there ever been a 100 foot wave?
100 Feet: The Never-Ending Quest On October 29, 2020, Portuguese surfer António Laureano claimed to have ridden the biggest wave ever at the infamous European beach break. The first measurement made by the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Human Kinetics (FMHUL) led to a 101.4-foot (30.9 meters) wave.
Who discovered Nazaré wave?
Garrett McNamara
Discovery of Nazare with Garrett McNamara In a new Red Bull TV documentary about Maya Gabeira’s two-year battle to return to Nazaré after nearly drowning there in October of 2013, Garrett McNamara explains how he came to discover this revolutionary big-wave venue.
Is Nazaré safe?
Lifeguards watch over swimmers on this beach, and the ocean is perfectly safe to go in. It’ll be hard to even imagine that such huge waves are just around the headland! Praia da Nazare is hardly one of the best beaches in Portugal, but if you want to spend a while lounging on the sand it certainly does the job.