Where to Eat, Surf and Shop in Ericeira: The Marnie Rays Guide
Ericeira has a way of getting under your skin. A whitewashed fishing town on Portugal's west coast, blue trim on every doorway, the Atlantic glittering at the end of each street. It is the only World Surfing Reserve in Europe, and it is where we host our women's surf and wellness retreat in Portugal.
We have spent a lot of mornings, beach days and long dinners here. These are the places we actually go, the ones we send our guests to, and the ones we think about when we are anywhere else.
First, coffee
Mornings in Ericeira are slow, and they should be. Our regulars:
Sano. Proper coffee, calm corner, the kind of place you sit a little longer than you planned.
Tiger & Chick. Bright, friendly and great for a post surf brunch when you are starving in the best way.
Mother. Half cafe, half store, all lovely. Come for the coffee, leave with something you did not know you needed.
Balagan. Laid back and full of surfers. Order, sit in the sun, watch the town wake up.
The shops worth your suitcase space
Ericeira does a very good line in small, considered stores. Mother earns a second mention here, and Saints at Sea is the one our guests always come home talking about. Slow fashion, beautiful bits, the kind of shopping that feels like a holiday in itself.
Dinner, the long kind
Dinner is the heart of every retreat we run. Showered, glowing, starving. In town, these are ours:
Costa Fria. Fresh, local and quietly brilliant. Book ahead if you can.
La Popular. Buzzy and generous, made for a table of girls working through the menu together.
Secret Oven Pizza. Exactly what it sounds like. The end of a beach day rarely looks better than this.
Where to surf
Ribeira d'Ilhas is the beach that made Ericeira famous, a wide green amphitheatre running down to a wave that has hosted world championships. It is also a generous place to learn. On our retreats the coaches take you out as one group, wetsuits and boards sorted before you arrive, and falling off is genuinely half the fun.
The easiest way to do all of it
You could plan Ericeira yourself. Or you could come with us and have every one of these mornings, dinners and surfs woven into a week with a villa, a chef, daily coaching and a group of girls who will feel like your oldest friends by the end of it.
Our Ericeira surf and wellness retreat runs with monthly payment plans available, and most of our guests come solo. If this town is calling you, that is the door in.