Pedra Branca.

Pedra Branca is a short, ferociously hollow left-hand reef that sits at the southern end of Ericeira's dense cluster of world-class breaks. Where neighbouring Coxos offers length and power, Pedra Branca delivers pure violence in a compact package - a bowly, freight-train left that squares off and pitches hard over a supershallow uneven reef bottom. On a solid SW swell with easterly offshores, it can produce some of the thickest, most barreling waves anywhere on the Portuguese coast, occasionally running to double overhead and holding up to around 3.5m before closing out entirely. The wave is fickle by nature - consistency is moderate and it needs the right combination of swell angle and wind to produce its best - but when it comes together, it ranks among the standout lefts in all of Europe. Low tide is genuinely dangerous here; the reef barely covers and entry is only viable from mid tide upward on the push. Paddle out from the channel on the north side of the break. The main campground sits directly across the coast road, making this one of the more accessible spots in the reserve, but accessibility cuts both ways - when it breaks well, it draws a hungry crowd fast. Localism runs deep in this part of Ericeira.