summer trip: france vs portugal?

[carve123]

so me any my friends are planning a summer trip to either hossegor or peniche this summer ( open to suggestions if you know anywhere else good). we are all decent to good surfers and both of these places offer good waves. however we are all under 18 and will be at the time, which is not a problem for accomadation as i have already contacted several that are willing to take us, but we cannot drive. so basically i want to know :
-would peniche be difficult without a car?( i have been there before and it all felt quite spread out).
-how crowded do the waves get in hossegor? ( when i was in peniche this summer supertubos was not busy at all).
-which do you think would be more convinient?
-which one is better/ more consistent, or are they around the same?

any other infomation you could give me would also be apprieciated.

[soulsurfer]

Good afternoon,
I can talk a little bit about Portugal like a surf destination. I´m used to surfing mainly in Central region, but I surf some good spots in South too:

. PENICHE – the only one where you have always good waves, because it works with all winds and swell directions. A friend of mine says: ´Peniche never disappoints´ and it´s true. It´s the most consistent in all country. You can search on the internet the forecast and then decide the best spot. In this case you don´t need to walk around. The only problem is probably Supertubos, it´s a really good beach- break, but it only works from September to April, except when you have like 3m swell and north wind and the reunion of these conditions are not really common in summer, but you can have luck!
. ERICEIRA - the waves are more powerful and longer than in Peniche the crowd is less and you have a bigger diversity of bottom types. you should expect some onshore days, but when it is off-shore it´s a dream. If you want to improve your surfing level in summer season it´s surely the best option. Tiago Pires learned how to surf here. Locals have a strong knowledge, it´s cheaper and if you want you catch a bus and visit Lisbon easily. It always has waves, a lot of surfcamps and the greatest summer party: “SUMOL SUMMER FEST” in June.
. SAGRES – If you had car I would advise you this region. This year the water was about 21ºC in July/August, always sun. You have everything here: good weather, good food, good fellowship, good landscapes… you can choose between south and west coast. You often find perfect conditions without crowd.
Summarizing: PENICHE – consistence, safety, fun; ERICEIRA – High Surf; SAGRES – New Challenge
All of these places have nice people, parties and all of environment expected in a summer trip.
I hope I have helped, if you have any issues about all of these places I can give you more info. I´m new on this forum, so sorry for some English mistakes ….
Good waves for you

[surf patrol]

Hi soulsurfer, welcome to Surfing Waves!

A great first contribution. Many thanks.

[surf patrol]

Also, I'm not sure if you've found it yet, but we've got a surf spot guide / map which includes Portugal, it's surf regions and waves.
Please feel free to post some information, new surf spots, photos or video to any of the regions if you have some time. Any contributions are greatfully accepted.

[surf patrol]

Hi guys,
As a portuguese, I'm a little suspicious but I guess I have to take for Portugal since places like Peniche - the most consistent surf area in Portugal, with dozens of quality surf spots for all surfers levels within a radius of 5 km, or Sagres in the West and wild Algarve - a place with an impressive natural beauty, with dreamless surf spots above huge cliffs and several of them yet to discover, both these places are a well done choice for a summer surf trip (in fact, they are all year round destinies, and you can join also Ericeira, the first European World Surfing Reserve, where you can find top world class surf spots within a stretch of 4 km of coastline)
There's a good website from a portuguese surf travel company which offers a lot of programs in the main portuguese surf areas. <edit>

[jaffa1949]

Well for me they are both good but then it is still your choice.This year i am also planning to go in Finland country not to surf but to do skiing and experience their sauna ,i heard that after skiing sauna is the best.