Costa de Lavos

A gem for wave kitesurfing

Posted  on July 8th, 2021

Costa de Lavos nearby Figueira da Foz is a rare gem. Halfway between Lisbon and Porto, in a small village where you won't see many foreigners, a beautiful swell finishes on the sand beach. Along with Praia de Moledo in the north, this is probably one of the best if not the best wave spot along the coast.

You will enjoy long stretches of clean waves, without a crowd. The waves provide beautiful kickers for big air as well.

You do need to choose your conditions wisely, the best and highly recommended is to avoid high tide and tide going down: it can be rough, with very strong currents and very difficult shore break. The best is tide going up and ideally with a period of 15 seconds.

Note that there is a thermal effect unless the heat goes above 30 degrees. When it is too hot, the water heats up as well and the temperature difference between the sea and the land is too low. Else if there is a good temperature difference then you usually get a solid thermal which you won't see on the Windguru forecast.

Often the thermal effect is accentuated as up north there is the Serra da Boa Viagem which is a small mountain range which effectively contributes to increase the temperature differences between the north of the mountain range and the south of the mountain range. 

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Costa de Lavos works all year and the water temperature is good until November with a wetsuit.

Best wind conditions are North-west winds to get side-on winds.

Waves are beautiful in low tide but beware of the currents and shore break by high tide.

There are no kitesurf shops & schools in Costa de Lavos.

Access to the beach is easy from the parking location.

There are showers nearby the beach.

You can get real-time wind speed on the AKFM weather station here.

There are no lifeguards on the beach.

Be cautious and know your basic safety. Preferably go out with a group.