Portugal Through A Hawaiian Lens

November 8, 2024
Portugal Through A Hawaiian Lens

William Weaver, bodyboarder and photographer.

Our autumn trip to Portugal scored perfect waves and great weather. The crew had the time of their lives!

Portugal is an incredibly popular bodyboarding destination and for good reason! With miles and miles of relatively uncrowded beach break, a laidback lifestyle and a very economically priced cost of living. It’s particularly popular with American visitors and many make a comparison between Portugal’s southern and western coasts being similar to California. But less crowded, cheaper and more friendly.

In October, our group of guests was made up of 8 Hawaiian riders. William Weaver is an awesome bodyboarder and also a very skilled land and water photographer. It was great to see him divide his time between enjoying the waves on his bodyboard, before shooting photos from the land or getting into the pit with his water housing.

Of the many images that William shot throughout the trip, the Bodyboard Holidays staff team huddled around a computer and picked the four that we felt best summed up this epic trip! We’re sure that you agree, they make you want to pack up your bag and jump on the next trip with us!

All images by William Weaver.

We caught up with William to find out a little more about what makes him tick and hear what he thought about Portugal through a bodyboarders perspective.

Name: William Weaver

William Weaver photographer

Age: 45 years young

Where do you live?

Island of Hawai’i, a large active volcano in the middle of the sea

Years Bodyboarding?

37 years boogie time

Favourite break? Home break in Kona, Ke’ei

William Weaver photographer

Preferred riding style prone/drop knee and why?

These days prone, used to love drop knee but got out of practice of dropping da knee riding slabby shore break on Oahu.

How did you get in to shooting photos and why?

From a young age, my brother and our friends and I would take turns shooting and riding, starting with the old disposable film cameras. Took it up more seriously with the advent of digital. It’s such a joy to call your buddy into a ridiculous slab, get the shot or haze them if they pull back. A tight crew of boogies on Oahu alternate between riding and shooting, good fun to share the epic times and capture it all to relive later!

William Weaver photographer

Favourite bodyboarder and why?

Jeff Hubbard, love his style, stoke and ridiculous aerial antics. He is super Hubb. I love watching him fly and freely shares his high level of stoke and good vibes with others.

Jeff Hubbard

Favourite photographer and why?

Jon Mozo, humble local Hawaiian water photographer who died shooting at back door pipeline. Love all of his work but especially capturing perfect crystal clear blue barrels, and nicest guy ever.

William Weaver photographer

Fave rider to shoot?

My big brother, my hero, Pablo Weaver. Has always charged, inspired me and love spending time in the tube with him.

William Weaver photographer

Have you had your work published, if so, where?

Yes, I’ve been blessed to have had work published in various calendars that go out to stores, a few local environmental mags and Zigzag surf mag and Freesurf in Hawaii.

How did you come across the Bodyboard-Holidays trip to Portugal and what made you book?

My good friend Jeremy told me about the trip. It peaked my interest to travel to Europe for the first time with friends and be taken care of by an exceptional group of likeminded humans sharing the passion of bodyboarding.

William Weaver photographer Portugal

What did you think of Portugal from a bodyboarding perspective?

It exceeded all of my expectations. Beautiful shoreline with really fun, dynamic waves. The area we were in near Lagos and Sagres had some wonderful options and different angled spots that allowed for the luxury of finding clean offshore waves regardless of the shifting wind throughout the week. I loved the large cliffs and corresponding wedges created. The tidal variation and many faces of a wave throughout the day was also quite remarkable.

What did you think of Portugal from a photography perspective?

Absolutely gorgeous scenes, amazing historical areas, lovely waves, sunrises, sunsets and astounding sea cliffs. It was wonderful to photograph.

Portugal bodyboarding

Which will be your next Bodyboard-Holidays trip and why?

So many good options! Tavarua has long been on the bucket list. El Salvador may be next though!

El Salvador bodyboarding

Huge thanks for joining us William!

Huge mahalo to you all at Bodyboard-Holidays!

If you’d like to join us in Portugal, we’re heading back there in May and October. Enjoy a week of bodyboarding bliss with our team. Be warned, this place is addictive, we have a crazy 45% rebooking rate on this trip!

Rob Barber

Author

Rob Barber

Director
I’ve competed at bodyboarding since I was 13. I won my first open division age 14. Then became obsessed with bodyboarding and competed all over the country then the world.  My best year I won 11 events in the UK and internationally. My best result ever was ranking the highest European in the World professional championships at Pipeline. I won over 30 events when I was competing full time.  I have written and edited 4 books on surfing and bodyboarding. Two of which have gone on to be best sellers in their area of specialty.

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