Loco boss Joe reviews his time paddle surfing in South West Portugal:

It must have been almost 20 years since I last visited Portugal and with a none paddle surfing better half I’d agreed to book  somewhere in the South Algarve on a largely ‘holiday basis’ with the caveat that I could take my board (just in case). The last time I was in Portugal I’d stayed in Lagos and had enjoyed some half decent windsurfing in October so I hoped that I’d at least score something local to Albufeira this time.

Since my last visit, the Algarve had certainly been developed to the n’th degree; embodying everything I hate about commercial tourism, basically Blackpool but with sunshine. I’ve never been one to sit round a pool drinking endless beers while purposefully burning my skin so it didn’t take long for me to grow restless in the hotel. Sadly to get any surf where we were requires a storm in the Med or a decent size Atlantic swell that tends to wrap around Sagres lighting up spots like Zavial and Lagos. Needless to say my ever-hopeful missions to some of the local breaks ended in recurring sad face.

Full story at http://locosurfing.com/loco-sup-surfing-south-west-portugal/