Azores Question

[wedge2]

Hey all,

Just picked up a last minute flight to the Azores on the cheap. Planning on this being more of a touristy, culture trip (a friend is there for work) but am bringing a wetsuit. Forecast looks good for where I'm staying (Santa Barbara) so I'm going to rent a stick. Anyone rented or have any tips, advice etc on shops or the island? Pretty stoked

 

[surfadelphia]

direct without a stopover in mainland portugal?

 

[wedge2]

direct without a stopover in mainland portugal?

Staying in Lisbon for 2 days

 

[mundus]

Stoked for you, always want to check out the North Atlantic islands surf and insane fishing for Pelagics. Please give trip report

 

[Ranga]

I'm fascinated with Azores imagery. Wanna hear all about it! I'm not sure how developed the surf culture is there, but I only know what I've seen online and read in the surf mags..

 

[slipped_disc]

I was there this fall but on a different island. The Azores are amazing. Beautiful. Good food. Architecture. And somtimes really really good waves. Conditions there change dramatically as do the forecasts. If bringing boards is an option, I would. Makes the conditions aspect easier to manage. Also, from my experience there are very few surf shops out there. However I haven’t been to San Miguel in a long time.

 

[wedge2]

WOW! What a gem of a place. It reminds me of Hawaii mixed with Ireland and a bit of Italy. This was more of a tourist trip than a surf trip, but I caught Santa Barbara at 8-10 feet and glassy. Honestly a bit out of my comfort zone after a few months of not surfing. Caught 3 waves that day I surfed it and 3 more on the head, came up with a snapped leash and called it a day.

The second day of the trip we went sight seeing and I saw this left (see pics) reeeeling down the cliffs below. Talked to a couple local farmers who let us know where to park and hike in. 30 mins of beautiful hiking later I was scoring 3-5 ft speed lines all to myself on a rented 5'4 fish (tuflite junk but got the job done). Caught about 10 waves and could tell on the right day with a bit more North in the swell, this place could be insane. The people here were the highlight of the trip, so gracious and welcoming. Food was dirt cheap with the fish below 10 Euros total and wine for my girl was like 5 Euros a bottle. We took a tuna charter and got skunked but enjoyed being on the water. Fck I needed that. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

 

[Ranga]

You fly out of NY?

 

[wedge2]

DC to Lisbon to the island...I believe their are direct flights out of Boston only. Cheap ticket ($750)

 

[Swiftvelo]

One of our best trips. Santa Barbara is great place. drove the whole island.

 

[Haole2u]

Wow you scored. I spent a couple weeks in the fall of '81 on Terciera and got some great sessions in. Had family there at the time and used The Surf Report to find the spots. San Miguel looks amazing and it's nicer than the spring we're having in SoCal right now.