Concrete waves of Spain (last part): Algorta heaven

My explorations of the surf route from France to Portugal had come to an end last week.

Katja and me made 11000+ km, seen, surfed, skated and experienced so many things I could write a book. It truly was the trip of my life, with ups and downs and everything in between. It is good to go abroad for such a long time, so you re-learn where your real home is and who your true friends are.

On the way back we just had to do another stop: Algorta, Cantabria.

Every transition lover and true skater has seen this wonder of a skatepark in skate movies, so we could not just drive by not to get a little feel of it. The park is super good for surf style shredding, but I mainly wanted to ride the blue pool (now its actually black).

It looked kind of abandoned, full of trash and the locals riding everything else but this… and you learn quickly why. I can say without any shame I was scared after a long time, while it is so steep you think you are free falling into a pit of doom! Nonetheless I think my friends Uroš and Šmid would love it, but you really have to give a pile of respect to all the pros who ride it properly!

Down to Portugal

We have spent a portion of our vacation in France first, next in Basque and then moved to Cantabria in Spain. We did some exploring on the coast, skateboarding, surfing, sightseeing, went to Picos de Europa and just filmed when felt necessary. Allthough you are on well deserved time off, one can not resist taking a camera out wherever he is, especially if it is all new and fresh.

 

Few days ago we joined our friends on the Ujusansa Surfari Portugal to Peniche. We are staying in a really nice house in Baleal with a wiev directly to the Lagide reef. It just does not get better than this for the last part of the holidays and you really get creative again, while it is picturesque, warm and the waves pumping!

Concrete waves of Cantabria (part 12): Somo

The waves took a little time off in Cantabria, Spain, so the best way to get some surf like riding was to go check the Somo skatepark.

The park is brand new, has a sick bowl with an extension, a oververted wave wall and few smaller trannies. I had a mellow session with the guys from Zaragoza, who also gave me good advice where to go in our next stop in Portugal…

Concrete waves of Cantabria (part 11): Noja

I always check for good skateparks around where we travel and this one in Noja, Cantabria, looked really worth checking out.

It is a combination of a snake run, miniramp and a pool end, all in one bowl! Sadly it is not well maintained. You can just ride the ramp part or pump around, which is not how you would go at it, if the top layer would not be in such bad shape. I was really bummed, but the crazy graffiti were something cool to see…

Concrete waves of Cantabria (part 9): St. Vincent de la Barquera

After quick stop in home camp Zarautz, we went further to meet our friends in St. Vincent de la Barquera, Cantabria.

Cantabria is next region from Basque, if you travel west, and it really is a whole different country… the culture, the people, the scenics, everything changes when you pass Santander and you enter a lot more quiet and lonesome realm of Spain.

After the “mandatory” surf session with Basti and Benno, we had to go check the local skateramp. It is under the old castle ruins by the river, surely the most beautiful setting so far, but sadly the ramp sucks… no real coping to get a lock, few metal plates sticking out and sort of slippery… yet we had a fun session with the local soccer kids, who seemed to enjoy skateboarding as much as they like kicking the ball around, so not all is lost, haha.