Where the Atlantic delivers 30-metre waves and widows still wear black
Nazaré is a small Portuguese fishing village that became world-famous when big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara rode a record 24-metre wave here in 2011. The secret is the Nazaré Canyon — the deepest underwater canyon in Europe, which funnels Atlantic swells directly into the shore and amplifies them to monstrous size. Beyond the surf spectacle, Nazaré retains genuine fishing village character: women in traditional seven-petticoat skirts hang octopus to dry on lines above the beach, and the old hilltop quarter of Sítio looks down over the long sandy beach where boats are still dragged up by tract…
Nazaré was a fishing settlement long before Romans arrived, but its name derives from a 4th-century hermit named Roderico who brought a small statue of the Virgin from Nazareth — the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Nazaré was built at Sítio in the 17th century and remains the town's spiritual centre. The village lived off pilchard fishing for centuries; the massive canning industry that grew here in the early 20th century funded the distinctive tiled facades and azulejo decorations still visible on the older buildings. The surfing era began in 2010 when Garrett McNamara, scouting with local sur…