Shaper · Santa Cruz
SPO Surfboards
Hugo Cartaxana's Santa Cruz factory, two decades in. SPO shapes performance and competition boards and most of the tow boards used up the coast at Nazaré.
SPO is Hugo Cartaxana's shaping operation in Santa Cruz, going about twenty years. He builds performance and contest boards for competitive surfers, and SPO makes most of the tow boards the crews take out at Nazaré, just up the coast.
Contact is direct through the shaper - Facebook (Spo Surfboard) or by asking at Santa Cruz. Not a walk-in shop; boards are commissioned.
Spots nearby
Praia Azul
A fairly quiet beach break just south of Santa Cruz. Best on a west to north-west swell with an east wind, with a reef section that works at mid tide. Sources say waist high to double overhead.
IntermediatesSummer and autumn
Santa Cruz
A long, open beach between Peniche and Ericeira, with tall rock stacks offshore and a spread of peaks. Exposed and consistent, quieter than its famous neighbours, and it works for every level depending on size.
All levelsYear-round; autumn and spring the pick for size without the winter crowds elsewhere