Praia do Norte (‘North Beach’) is a beach located in
Nazaré, Portugal
Nazaré () is a Portugal, Portuguese town and municipality located in the Oeste Subregion, Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura Province (1936-1976), Estremadura, and in the Leiria District. The municipality has a population of 1 ...
, which due to its giant white
breaking wave
In fluid dynamics, a breaking wave or breaker is a wave whose amplitude reaches a critical level at which large amounts of wave energy transform into Wave turbulence, turbulent kinetic energy. At this point, simple physical models that describ ...
s is famed for its surfing conditions. Nazaré's waves were listed on the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' for the biggest waves ever surfed.
Overview
Praia do Norte’s very high breaking waves form due to the presence of the underwater
Nazaré Canyon
The Nazaré Canyon is an undersea canyon just off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. It is the largest submarine canyon in Europe, reaching depths of about deep and a length of about .
The canyon is being stud ...
. The canyon creates constructive interference between incoming swell waves which tends to make the waves much larger.
In November 2011, surfer
Garrett McNamara
Garrett ‘GMAC’ McNamara (born August 10, 1967) is an American professional big wave surfer and extreme waterman known for breaking the world record for largest wave ever surfed at Nazaré, Portugal, successfully negotiating a monstrous barre ...
, who resides in Hawai'i, surfed a record-breaking giant wave: from
trough to crest, at Praia do Norte in
Nazaré, Portugal
Nazaré () is a Portugal, Portuguese town and municipality located in the Oeste Subregion, Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura Province (1936-1976), Estremadura, and in the Leiria District. The municipality has a population of 1 ...
. On 28 January 2013, McNamara returned to the spot and successfully surfed a wave that appeared even larger, but is awaiting an official measurement as of November 2018.
On November 8, 2017, Brazilian surfer
Rodrigo Koxa broke the previous record surfing an wave at Praia do Norte which was captured in a video that went viral over social media.
See also
*
List of beaches in Portugal
This is a list of beaches in Portugal, listed by regions and subregions, municipalities and parishes.
Norte
Alto Minho
* Praia Azul ( Caminha)
* Praia da Amorosa Nova (Viana do Castelo)
* Praia da Amorosa Velha (Viana do Castelo)
* P ...
*
Supertubos
*
List of surfing records
The following lists present the current title holders of each surfing theme.
Largest (measured) waves surfed
Other claims
There are various ways to measure the height of a wave. Miguel Moreira, professor at University of Lisbon's Faculty of H ...
References
External links
{{commons category, Praia do Norte (Nazaré)
Praia do Norte, Nazaré– Live Beachcam (Southern view)
Praia do Norte, Nazaré– Live Beachcam (Northern view)
Beaches of Portugal
Surfing in Portugal
Surfing_locations_in_Portugal
Surfing_locations