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Costa da Caparica

positive psychology

Surf & Positive Psychology Week

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Have you ever thought of recharging your batteries with some physical and mental activities?


But really, not just going to a yoga class or a run along the river…
Something like a one-week detox program in beautiful nature.
Or for instance, a week with surfing every day for your physical well-being and workshops in the afternoon about positive psychology – to work on your mind and soul.


This is what we offer in the Surf & Positive Psychology Week the last week of June (23-30 June). We will start our days with 2 hours of physical activity out in pure nature. Then a healthy breakfast to recharge the batteries for the afternoon where we’ll have the workshops with our friend, Ruud Crijns. His main topic will be positive psychology. 

What is Positive Psychology?


It is the scientific study that has our personal wellbeing as an object of study: what makes us thrive? It focuses on what makes us happy but also on how to deal with the negative things in life. Although it is a relatively new field of psychology, there is quite some research going on.

The goal of positive psychology is a lot different from the goal of traditional psychology: not just repairing and healing the person with problems but focusing on the positive aspects of a person as his strengths and wellbeing.

In this week, we will focus on the following topics:

  • Monday: intro positive psychology, positive emotions, wellbeing (PERMA-model)
  • Tuesday: strengths
  • Wednesday: relationships
  • Thursday: psychological capital: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO)
  • Friday: open / topics to be determined participants, but for example: flow, forgiveness, (self-)compassion etc.
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How to get to Costa da Caparica from Lisbon?

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Since many of our guests combine their city holiday with a visit to Costa da Caparica, we describe how to get to our Lisbon surf house from the other side of the river.

Lisbon airport to Costa da Caparica:

  • Magnet shuttle: we offer airport pickups and dropoffs for €30/one way. Call us when your plane has landed and we’ll give your a ride!
  • Public Transport: There are buses leaving from the airport to Areeiro. Once you arrived there you can take bus 161 which will take you to the center of Caparica. Our surf house is located about 10-15 minute walk from the center. Route: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Lisbon-Airport-LIS/Costa-da-Caparica
  • UBER: Unlike in other Europeans cities UBER is still legal in Portugal and definitely cheaper than a normal taxi ride. A trip from the airport to Caparica will cost you €18-24, depending on traffic. Make sure to download the app on your smartphone. A little help for the pickup location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFHrQG0r7Sw
  • By Taxi: Same as an UBER, it will cost you about €30. Line up in the queue (you will surely find it) and tell the driver our address: Avenida do Oceano 35, Costa de Caparica).funnycab

Lisbon town center to Costa da Caparica:

  • Cais do Sodré: ferry goes to Cacilhas (every 10 minutes) -> bus from Cacilhas to Costa da Caparica (124 or 135).
  • From Belém: from the central station of Cais do Sodré you can take a train to Belém. From here ferry to Trafaria and from Trafaria bus nr. 129 to our street, Avenida do Oceano.

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Bel%C3%A9m-Tower/Trafaria/Costa-da-Caparica

If you can’t find your way to Caparica or you are lost in Lisbon, give us a call at +351 939 311 285.

The Magnet Projects Team

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Hungasurf x The Magnet Projects | October Sessions

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Last week we had our first edition of the Hungasurf Sessions. The week was blessed with decent swell, clean conditions and great weather. We also had a chance to watch the Surfing World Champs.

Sunny days and good waves

Our guesthouse in Costa da Caparica welcomed the Hungarian surfers. This week was for intermediate surfers. They improved a lot on their wave selection, take-off technique and riding sideways on the wave. Dawn patrol and sunset sessions made our days so after dinner everyone was easily falling in their beds for a good night’s rest.

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Happy faces in the water

RipCurl Pro Peniche

We also had the chance to have a look at the World Championship Tour event in Peniche, the RipCurl Pro Portugal.

After watching the opening and closing days live at the beach, we’ve seen all the pros getting barrelled and doing some great surfing. First day was about huge barrels, finals day was more about progressive surfing. Julian Wilson and Gabriel Medina were having a really tight final. Eventually Medina came out as the winner with a buzzer beater. This result keeps the Brazilian’s World Title dreams alive:  http://www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/tour/mct?year=2017

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Medina getting ready for his quarter final heat. He was on fire!

Surfing Safari

Besides the drive to Peniche we also searched around for spots in the area. We found some nice waves in Caparica, Riviera, Carcavelos, Guincho and Praia Grande. Highlight of the trip though was the world famous right hand point-break of Coxos. At the peak of the swell the 3 of us paddled out to be a bit intimidated, watch the pros getting pitted but also to test our braveness in bigger surf. We all had some ‘smaller’ waves so at the end of the session came out happy from the water.

Crew_CoxosPeiman and Matyi are getting ready to jump in while Zoli is on the first wave of the day.

 

It was a great week with Hungarian surfers, we will continue with these type of events and intermediate weeks in the future. We’ll keep you updated about the next Hungasurf Sessions. See you next year!

 

Waiting for Waves

How to read waves?

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Reading the ocean

Today’s blog entry is with the aim of helping you reading waves and have good orientation in the water.

After spending our first summer in Portugal and teaching all levels in the waves of Caparica, I can tell that the biggest challenge for my students has been the reading of waves.

If you know the feeling of nosediving because the wave broke on you or you just couldn’t manage to catch a wave because you were sitting too far out, this article is for you.

Nosedive
Nosediiiiiive… Happened to you as well before, right?

Here are the major points to become a better wave-reader:

Initial tips:

-> Look at the horizon
-> When you see a set approaching, compare the horizon with the wave’s line.
-> Find the highest point of the wave, this is where the wave starts breaking.
-> The side with the steepest angle/slope down is the direction of the breaking wave.
-> The direction of the breaking wave is the direction of your ride.

Set
Waves come in sets… Try not to take the first one, the ones after usually have better potential.

Personal advice:

– Practice makes perfect, so be patient. You will learn by trial and error, you’ll make mistakes, misread waves but don’t give up, progress will come.

– Observe: Before you get in the water, watch some sets from the beach, so you can identify which are the biggest waves on the given day. Also watch, how far left/right and how far in/out the waves are breaking. Imagine an X-Y axis along which you will be moving – pretty much all the time.

– Try to be in motion all the time. The first couple of times you will feel like that your arms are falling off, it is going to be really tiring, but after a while you will get used to it and you can get to the breaking point of the wave at the right time.

– Find a landmark -> pick a fixed orientation point at the beach (buildings, poles, trashcans, trees), anything that will still be there in 1 hour. Compare this point with the position of the breaking waves and try to position yourself at the same line.

– Watch and learn: try to follow more experienced surfers to get a faster reaction. Start moving when they start paddling, he probably sees that a new set is approaching.

– Again, be patient! Try not to take the first wave of the set, because it is always smaller than the others after. 3 is the magic number, in my experience the 3rd wave of the set is almost always a really good choice.

– And the most important: smile and be grateful – if you catch one at the right place and time, you’ll be the happiest person on Earth after your ride.

Here’s a little video on the subject – Source: 110% Surfing Techniques

 

Get out there and learn!

The Magnet Projects

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Discover Beautiful Sintra

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Sintra – a diverse daytrip

The Magnet Projects guesthouse is located in Costa da Caparica on the southern side of the Tagus river. It is just a short ride away from the heart of Lisbon. If you’re staying with us, trips into town will most definitely be on you itinerary. But did you know that Sintra, a Unesco World Heritage village, is also only a short 40 minutes away?

This picturesque little town is situated in the middle of the Sintra Mountains. Throughout these cooling forested green hills you will find many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, gardens, royal retreats, estates, castles and other buildings. The bright yellow and red walls of Palácio Nacional de Pena can even been seen all the way from Costa da Caparica.

Palácio Nacional de Pena seen from Costa da Caparica

History

Although remnants of human occupation have been discovered dating back as far as to the Paleolothic era, it wasn’t until the third quarter of the 18th and all of the 19th century that Sintra gained significantly in popularity amongst the Portuguese and foreign aristocrats as a summer retreat. The magic of the region with its dramatic vistas, landscapes and climate went hand in hand with the 19th century Romantic vision of life. Unhappy with society ‘the romantic’ flees from the here and now to other cultures, into the past, fairy tales or nature. It resulted in the construction of many extravagant palaces and grand residences such as Monserrate Palace and Castelo dos Mouros. Build by the Moors in the 9th century, the castle was destroyed by an earthquake and fires. King Fernando II (1816-1885), who was fascinated by the medieval period, restored the ruined structure as an enchanted fairy tale ruin.

Castelo dos Mouros

Palácio da Pena

The epitome of the Portuguese (and the worlds) Romantic architecture is Palácio Nacional de Pena. Situated on top of the Sintra Mountains, the palace towers high above the surrounding landscape. Offering magnificent views over Lisbon, the river and the Atlantic Ocean. It is built over the remains of the 16th century monastery of the order of Saint Jerome. Completely inline with the exotic taste of the Romanticism King Fernando II kept many of the original elements as well as adding a mixture of styles with Medieval and Islamic elements.

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The attractive town of Sintra is centred around the Palacio National. This Gothic royal residence was used from the 15th century up until the fall of the monarchy in 1910 and can be recognized by its two identical white cone-shaped chimneys above the kitchens. The cobble stone streets, twisting and turning up the hillside, are lined with charming traditional houses and offer plenty of places to sit down for a bite and drink.

At the Vila Sassettia in the historic centre a hiking trail starts which will take you all the way up to Castelo dos Mouros and the National Palace of Pena. The walk takes about 45 minutes to the entrance of the Parque Nacional de Pena and another 20 minutes through this enchanting forested park.

 

 

    

Parque Nacional de Pena

In all, Sintra is well worth a visit. So put on your hiking boots and start your day early! And, while your at it, drop down to Cabo da Roca to touch toes with the most western point of mainland Europe on your way back to Costa.

Cabo da Roca

 

 

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How to deal with currents?

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Coming from a landlocked country, it can be quite a strange phenomenon to befriend the ocean. In order to have fun in the waves it is essential to know about currents.

 

What is a current?

The biggest danger that we’re facing is the so called rip current which is water in motion, pulling you out to the open ocean.

rip current

On the above picture we can see two black arrows pointing down – towards the sandbanks, where the breaking waves are. Here we find shallow water that is how waves can break and can safely take us to shore.

Between the two sandbanks (red arrows pointing towards open ocean) we find the area of rip current.

 

How to identify the rip current?

 

If you go to the beach and look at the ocean, at certain parts of the beach you see waves breaking.

  • The area in between sandbanks, where there are no waves breaking, is the area of the rip current.
  • Water here has different color
  • Waves are choppy, unorganized
  • Trash, driftwood is floating around

 

Know before you go

 

  • The best way to go before entering the water for a surf or a swim is to check the specifics of the beach. Feel free to ask local lifeguards and surfers, they will be happy to help you.
  • As a swimmer you have a lot less flotation than with a surf-or bodyboard so if you want to go swimming do it only in the secured area – between yellow-red flags where the lifeguards patrol the beach.
  • If you would get stuck in the current, don’t panic, stay calm.
  • Don’t try to swim directly to shore but parallel to the beach, towards the breaking waves.
  • If you can’t manage on your own, put a fist in the air and shout for help.
  • Again, if you stay calm, you will end up at the shore

 

In the below video you find a detailed description what to do in case of getting stuck in the rip.

Be safe and have fun in the water!

The Magnet Projects

 

Surf Lesson - Lili & Gabor

Surf Lesson – Lili & Gabor

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Surf lesson with Lili & Gabor

Last week we had some surf lessons with a Hungarian couple, Lili & Gabor. They were staying for a short week in Lisbon and wanted to combine their city trip with some action so they decided to take some surf classes with us. After the morning pickups from the ferry in Cacilhas we were very pleased to teach them some new skills about the ocean and on the board. Although they had some challenging conditions with rain and wind, they still managed to catch waves and stand up. They definitely got infected with the surf virus and we hope they will be back in the water soon. Here you can see a little edit about one of the lessons. Great students, was an honor to teach them!

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Costa da Caparica – Our New Home

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Why Costa da Caparica?

We have been coming to Portugal for the past 2 years at the end of our summer seasons. First we stayed in an appartement in Paco d’Arcos and last year we rented a flat for 5 weeks in Costa da Caparica. Here we found plenty of sunshine and the important things we were looking for: as our cornerstones we consider two elements: nature and culture. We can call these surf & city as well. Caparica is the perfect combination for offering both to our guests.

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As you can see on the picture it is already summer weather around here. Ladies, it is a good place to work on your tan!

Lively beach town with consistent waves

Located 15-20 minutes drive from the heart of Lisbon, Costa da Caparica is a consistent beach break. The northern coast is divided by 7 jetties which provide variety and stability to the sand bars. So no matter what tide and size, there is always something to surf around here. Costa is a great place for intermediate surfers and longboarders.

Compared to the open beaches of the Sintra region and the reef breaks of Ericeira, Caparica hardly ever gets too big in size so if you have the right gear it is possible to surf here year-round. If you want to surf at the northern side of the Tejo we can organise daytrips to the above spots.

Events in Caparica

As we arrived last week to Portugal we quickly discovered that they are organizing Caparica’s biggest surfing event of the year, the Caparica Primavera Surf Fest. This is a Word Surfing League Qualifying competition. Surfers of all ages (Junior Pro and Caparica Pro) compete in the 10 day event. There is a contest for bodysurf, bodyboard, skimboard and longoard as well. This festival is not only for surfing. There are lot of other programs as music in the evening, a mobile skatepark and foodtrucks. The local Portuguese surf brands are also showcasing their products during the 10 days.

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Great Waves In Costa Da Caparica

In August there will be another festival which is purely for music: O Sol da Caparica is 4 days long and it features more than 30 local bands and DJs. Let us know if you are interested we can help you with booking tickets.

Summer is coming, the vibrant beach and city scene will have a lot more to offer. We will keep you posted…

 

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The journey has begun

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Central-America and the search in Europe

After moving together in 2014, we were travelling around the world to get to know places, waves and people. Through our journey in Central-America we stayed in various surf hostels which inspired us to start our own business at the ocean. We’ve seen beautiful places but our hearts are pulling back to the old continent. Our blog from Central-America still brings back great memories: https://eva-and-zoli-blog.tumblr.com/. After returning to Europe we worked two summers in France and winters in Austria. Now we are ready to make the move and start our own guesthouse somewhere at the Atlantic Coast of Europe. And where? In Portugal, Lisbon area. Here we found all the things that matter to us. We would like to combine surfing and culture so we can offer a great diversity to our guests. For now we are renting a surfhouse in Costa da Caparica. Our major plan is to find our dream property for which we will encourage you to support us. Follow us on the search and let our Magnet pull you closer.

The journey to Portugal

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Here we are again.. We are packing our van for moving to a new country. After living in seasons for years, changing between snowboarding and surfing and not being settled, we are ready to make the Move. Now from Zoli’s hometown Kecskemét, through Budapest, Austria, Germany, our old campsite home, Vieux Boucau in France, continuing through the beautiful Spain, we’ll end our 3000km journey in the sunny Lisbon area. We are getting into the car with the hope that we will find a place where we can get settled and share our passion for nature and culture with our guests.

Many questions marks, sometimes scary thoughts and lots of adventures await us but we know one thing: if we don’t try we will never reach our dreams – to find our HOME at the ocean.

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