# 85 World Surf League Tour - surfing at the highest level

March 4-5, 2022: Peniche, Óbidos, Nazaré

F. We had already passed Peniche when we received a tip from Alena that a world surfing championship was taking place in Peniche. We didn't want to miss that and turned around directly after spending a night in Óbidos. The WSL (World Surf League) is an association of professional surfers and the organizer of the World Championships in surfing. So many stars of this sport were present here in the small town of Peniche. Of course, we didn't know any of these stars, but there were enough other people on the beach who were eagerly running after some surfers to get an autograph or photo once they came out of the water. The event must be very big in the surfing scene, as I found the whole tournament to be very professionally organized. There were several large TV cameras that were broadcasting live on the internet, there were large tents on the beach for participants, VIPs, and merchandise, and the competition was commented on in English on the beach. The Praia de Supertubos beach in Peniche is known for its long wave tunnels, so in the tournament they tried to ride the perfect tunnel. The longer you surfed in the tunnel, the more points you got. Of course, you had to still be standing on the surfboard at the end of a wave and not be submerged somewhere in the water. This was not always easy with these huge 2 to 5 meter high waves, and so we often saw a surfer disappearing into the tunnel of a wave, but then the tunnel collapsed too early and we couldn't see the surfer anymore. The tournament lasts for 10 days, with the individual competitions being announced relatively spontaneously, as the conditions are not always ideal depending on the weather and waves. So when we arrived in the morning, we found out that the first slot had already passed and they were now waiting for better waves. 3 hours later it was time and we enjoyed high-level surfing on the beach of Peniche.

Oh yes, we were also in Óbidos. This small town is known for its completely preserved and fully walkable city wall. It was already dark when we arrived there, but we still walked around the city a bit and climbed up the city wall.

The next day we went to another surfing highlight. We went to Nazaré. Here, under certain weather conditions, waves with a height of over 20 meters appear a few times a year. The current world record for successfully surfing a wave is 24.38m and was set in Nazaré, of course. When we arrived, the waves were four to six meters high and we imagined how high the big waves would look like.

Day 141 - Total tour 9,276 km

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