You’ve booked your surf mission to the Algarve and now you’ve started to think about what you need to pack. This is where a trip starts to become real and pre-trip excitement enters the picture!
With modern day board bag fees the general rule of thumb is to pack as light as possible. On average you will have a around a 20kg limit on your board bag once you’ve paid extra for it online so ignore the suit case and get It all in that board bag of yours to save paying for a case as well.
Surfboards
The Algarve offers you a huge variety of waves with everything from a playful mellow beach breaks to hollow powerful reef breaks. For this reason I would take two boards so you’ve got something to suit all conditions. Your first board will have to be a good all round board that will go in pretty anything before it starts to become overhead and a bit more punchy. Pick a board with a bit more volume to help you paddle in to waves on those smaller days along with having the option of having a quad fin set up for giving you the speed down the line. On those bigger days when even a little stretch on the beach is needed, I would recommend a more performance based standard shortboard to help out on those steep take offs. Want to stand out in the line up? Learn how to spray your board here
Wax
With out doubt the biggest commodity (apart from you boards) will be Surf Wax. This little block of white gold will keep your feet glued to your board on those critical turns. During the Autumn in the Algarve the water temperature will be around 19 degrees Celsius so you’ll need “Cool Water Wax”. Look out for the temperature ranges on the front of your wax to make sure you buy the correct block. Check out how to wax your board here
Wetsuit
A 3.2mil Wetsuit will be perfect for the autumn months in Portugal. If it’s your first time buying a wetsuit then its worth trying on a few suits in your local surf shop to get the right size and spending the extra money to get a quality long lasting suit.
Fin Key
These little buggers are the first thing to get lost on a surf trip and one of your most valuable items so pack a few of them. Maybe even worth attaching one to your keys.. . every surfer in the car park will thank you for it.
Duck Tape
Simple but with multiple uses this stuff really comes in handy. Repair board bags, temporary ding repair among other things. It won’t take up much room and it’s a god send to have in the board bag.
Ding Repair Kit
There is nothing worse than dinging your board and having it out of the water to be repaired while the waves are cooking. A simple solar resin kit will do a good temporary job before you take it to your local shaper for some TLC.
Zinc Cream
The autumn in the Algarve can still be in the mid 20s and with sun beating down on you in the line up it’s worth slapping the Zinc on your face to avoid a lobster tan!
Medical Kit
Cuts and scrapes can always happen on a surf trip no matter where you are so it’s always good to be prepared.
Pipe lagging and bubble wrap
We can’t control the way the baggage handlers throw out boards around but we can control the way we protect our boards for the journey. Whack plenty of pipe lagging on the rails and nose with bubble wrap on the deck and bottom to ensure they’re for battle in transit. You can pick all this armour up from your local hardware shop and it’s worth the pennies!
For a chance to get that pre trip excitement flowing, check out the latest Portugal Trips on offer below;
TTRide Algarve Surf Camp in Lagos 29th May – 5th June 2014
If you have any questions please don’t hesiate to get in touch with one of our Surf Experts today [email protected] or give us a call on 0208 7888 668.
See you out there!