Joana Andrade

Their story

Joana Andrade, born in Cascais and now living in Ericeira, is the first Portuguese woman to surf the giant waves of Nazaré. After a year of training, she rode Praia do Norte for the first time in November 2014. She was nominated for Ride of the Year in 2015, and won Best Local Female at Portugal's own big wave awards four years in a row.

She has always been open about her fear of drowning. In the documentary BIG vs SMALL, by Finnish director Minna Dufton, she faces it by training under the ice of a frozen Finnish lake with world champion freediver Johanna Nordblad.

When she isn't at Nazaré, she teaches surfing in Ericeira.