Secret Spots
Well wel well... secrets are secrets. The only reason to be mentioning that there are any is because we would like to let you know there are more spots then what we previously mentioned.
We might be able to show you when you are here but we can´t broadcast them over the web.
Like they say "you don´t know if you don´t go".
Surfspots in Portugal can be more than fun and games, and more and more, surf is seen as a chance to ensure a brighter future for youth and impoverished communities. That is precisely the case of the project My Destiny, presented May 29th at 21h30 at the IES institute in Oeiras.
My Destiny, created by surfer Carolina Pereira, is an eco-social project with the Fair Surf stamp of approval, that means to discover a new destiny every year, through chronicles, photography, video and music, assigning each and new place with a sound track. "My Destiny: Stuck In Paradise", was a short documentary from a trip to Bali and Mentawai, and for Carolina, that"s where it all began.
From the success spawning from that first video, Carolina went forward with the project and established a partnership with Liquid Future to create English classes, together with swimming and surf lessons in Madapegat. This is the seed from what now aims to take eco-social expeditions to Indonesia, Costa Rica, Australia, etc. 
For Carolina, surf can be an enriching experience for impoverished communities that sometimes live near surfing paradises and are incapable of taking advantage of the ecological treasures surrounding them. Above all, it is her belief that the sport can have a very positive eco-social impact. For that, the project does rely on key points that transcend surf, and part of the revenue from the expeditions will be geared towards acquiring water purification equipment. The intention is also there to teach populations in Indonesia to manufacture wooden surfboards in a sustainable fashion.
Such an interesting project shows how eco-friendly surf can be, making it perhaps the sport with the highest potential to change the way in which populations live and preserve the natural resources around them. If far away continents will be visited by this project, Portugal"s surfspots are also part of the itinerary, as while it may appear the country has minor social concerns, the truth is there remains many coastal towns, both in the mainland and islands, where a lot can be done to improve the local quality of life through surf.
