Vitor Oliveira

Tide tables have a reputation for being rock solid. And to be honest, they deserve it. The rise and fall of the sea is driven mainly by the Moon and the Sun , whose movements can be calculated centuries ahead. In truth and theory, tidal predictions for the year 3,000 could be printed today and still be right. How useful would they be for surfers and sailors of today? Maybe not that much. Yet anyone who has watched waves flood a seaside car park earlier than expected, or seen a "small" high tide spill over a seawall, knows something else is going on. The ocean is always in tune with the sky, the wind, and the shape of the coast. The thing is, those influences are harder to pin down, and they can quietly rewrite what the tide was supposed to do. Could they influence a planned weekend surf session? Definitely. Here's how. Wind that pushes the ocean sideways Wind does more than ruffle or caress the surface of the oceans and water in general. When it blows hard and lo...

Robert Caughlan, pioneer environmentalist of the Surfrider Foundation, ocean activist, surfer, and an influential figure in the Jimmy Carter administration, passed away on January 17, 2026, at 82. Robert "Birdlegs" Caughlan was a cherished author at SurferToday.com . For several years, I had the privilege to exchange multiple emails and transatlantic ideas with an extraordinarily simple yet impactful and altruistic man. "Birdlegs" - I know he loved his nickname. I never did. I thought it was too childish and diminished his living legacy. But Robert insisted I add it to my edits of his contributing articles. And so I did. Caughlan - pronounced Cog-land - lived a truly meaningful life, advocating for surfers to assume their responsibility and become ocean protection leaders. Robert Willis Caughlan was born on February 27, 1943, in Alliance, Ohio. His father, Willis, was a U.S. Army parachute instructor who died when Rob was 4, right after the end of World War ...

It's one of the strongest low-pressure systems to hit Portugal in years. Depression Ingrid prepares to slam the southwestern European nation with massive swells hitting the coastline. Nazaré is on hold. A Portuguese meteorologist even called it the "Lady Storm" that will affect mainland Portugal through January 25, 2026. It's a rare weather phenomenon that reminds us of the "Black Swell" coined by SurferToday in 2014, even though XXL North Atlantic winter swells are common. The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) underlines that the severe storm, which combines several risk factors at once, will bring big waves, strong, gusty winds, persistent rain, and snowfall in higher areas. And snow is something rare in Portugal. The low pressure is coming from Newfoundland/Labrador, moving in a straight line toward the Portuguese coast. Nazaré's underwater canyon is expected to boost the groundswell formed thousands of miles away. Thursda...

Sometimes, it really feels like surfing turned the page on that sad autumn day of November 2, 2010. The day Andy Irons (AI) died, part of the core soul of the competitive side of the sport was buried. It feels like yesterday, but the years burn quickly. In 2010, we were all still discovering the wonders of touchscreens. It was the launch year of the iPad, the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and the beginning of a financial nightmare for many world economies. In competitive surfing, the ASP World Tour was still the entity ruling the professional circuit. Kelly Slater was enjoying his second wave of success . Somehow, it was the Floridian's decade. Between 2000 and 2010, he won four titles. His longtime Hawaiian rival, Andy Irons , had been able to snatch three consecutive trophies between 2002 and 2004, and Mick Fanning was getting in the mix with his all-around power surfing skills. It was yesterday, and everything was so different Online broadcasts were gettin...

Surf helmets are becoming increasingly popular in today's lineups. Surfers have realized that the pros of wearing them largely surpass the cons. Here's how to choose your first head protection gear for the surf. At the turn of the millennium, the idea of putting on a surf helmet before paddling out was highly embarrassing. "Only kooks wear surf helmets," most of the surfers would say. However, with the growth of big wave surfing and the exploration of new limits for shortboard surfing, accidents, injuries, and even deaths put everything into a new perspective. How many concussions could we have avoided? How many lives would we have spared? Too many to be neglected. Everything changes and evolves. And surfing gear has added incremental layers of safety over the years, whether by adopting inflatable life vests , improving leash technology, or introducing surf watches with GSM and cellular. Wipeouts are very frequent, and surfers of all levels are pushing the sp...

The urge to surf beats nearly everything. We take risks to get that unmatchable shot of joy of catching a few good waves in idyllic conditions. A flu, pain in the back, a shoulder injury, a hangover, or a headache have never been a problem if we're confronted with a "you should've been there" surfing moment. The adrenaline rush of just visualizing yourself in an empty, perfectly peeling point-break-like wave overcomes most of the unpleasant feelings and pain we might be experiencing. Two common myths surround the surfer's mind. The ideas that "saltwater is good for wounds" and that "surfing heals" generally blend magically in our brains. However, the cold factual truth is rather different. Is saltwater really good for wounds? Sadly, the reality diverges from the myth. Saltwater from the ocean is not the same as sterile saline solution. In fact, infectious-disease experts will tell you that swimming in the ocean isn't a way to cure ...

The mental process of choosing a new surfboard, whether it's your first , second , or fifth, can be rather exhausting and frustrating. A lot of questions and doubts come to mind, especially when there's so much money at stake. And yes, surfboards are getting increasingly expensive, despite the growing automation of the manufacturing operation. But that's another story. Whenever we buy a new surfboard, we are filling a specific need. It could be a board for learning , a longboard for chilling , a shortboard for punchy surf, or many other in-between necessities. However, a new concept of surfboard has been gaining momentum due to its versatility, adaptability, and ability to provide the thing surfers seek most: fun. It's the mid-length surfboard. Not a funboard, and not a mini-Mal Mid-lengths sit between shortboards and longboards and combine the best of both worlds. Their shapes vary, but most of them fall in the roughly ~6'8''-8'0'' range...

If you traced a surfboard on the ground with a marker, that outline would subtly explain how the board paddles, trims, and turns. The front half of that outline does most of its work before the wave is even caught. It is where the surfer's chest and shoulders rest, where water first meets the board, and where drag and lift begin their tug-of-war. As a surfboard moves forward, it behaves like a hydrodynamic foil . The goal is simple and demanding at the same time: to create enough lift to glide across the water while keeping drag low. So, the nose shape plays a direct role in how well that balance is struck. Change the nose, and you change how early a board catches waves, how easily it paddles, and how forgiving it feels once things get steep. Surfboard noses generally fall into a small group of shapes. Each one has strengths, weaknesses, and a clear place in the lineup. Let's take a look at the three different types of nose shapes. The round nose: float first, ask que...

Thickness is one of the most important features in a surfing wetsuit. It determines most of the level of protection from cold water a surfer gets. A 5/4/3 wetsuit is a cold-water winter suit designed to keep you warm during long sessions in low water temperatures while still allowing enough mobility to paddle effectively. In the past, you would barely see them for sale in surf shops. But nowadays, comfort has become an innegotiable necessity. You may have wondered what these cryptic numbers mean: 5/4/3. They refer to the neoprene/Yulex thickness in millimeters: the suit is thickest in the torso (5 mm) to protect your core, slightly thinner in the legs (4 mm), and thinnest in the arms and shoulders (3 mm) so paddling doesn't feel overly restrictive. It makes sense. The thickness distribution is particularly targeted at surfing, where you spend a lot of time stationary in the lineup waiting for the waves. So, because you're not constantly on the move, your core gets an e...

New Year's resolutions are problematic. They put pressure on us and are rarely achieved, right? It's a bit like the promise to go to the gym at least twice a week. But, hey, if you're a surfer, things are a bit easier. It's way more fun to be out in the water than breathing air-conditioned air under bright white 10,000K light. Yes, I know, for most of you, dear readers, the water temperature is 55 °F (13 °C), way above the air temperature of 45 °F (7 °C). It's tough and not inviting - surely. However, we've thought about a few doable and reasonable New Year's resolutions for the modern surfer that don't necessarily involve suffering and hating surfing. We've kept it fun, simple, and meaningful. How many of the following ten yearly resolutions can you tick off the list? 1. Surf at Least Once Every 12 Months of the Year We at SurferToday.com have been doing it consistently over the decades. The calendar doesn't get to decide when you'r...

If you have ever checked a surf forecast to see if a weekend swell is hitting your favorite break, you have probably relied on a powerful tool called WaveWatch. The computer model is one of the most widely used for predicting how waves travel across the ocean. The story began in the late 1980s at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. A scientist named Hendrik L. Tolman started developing a new way to track how wind transfers energy into water, as part of his thesis work. The first version, known as WaveWatch I, focused on the basic math of how waves grow and move. "The development of WaveWatch I was entirely funded through my Ph.D. work at Delft University," Tolman once told. In other words, WaveWatch I was a one-man (and one-university) show. The early version ran on large mainframe computers and was already a spectral model, meaning it tracked the energy of waves across many lengths and directions. It was a significant step beyond the ea...