Arcanzil

Arcanzil sits at the south-western base of Cabo Espichel, the westernmost tip of the Setúbal Peninsula, projecting straight into the open Atlantic — so unlike the sheltered Arrábida reefs east of the cape, it takes the dominant W-NW Atlantic groundswell almost head-on. The whole southern-to-western arc, from SE round through S, SW and W to WNW, is fully open ocean and the exposed window; W-NW long-period swell wraps directly onto the pinnacle and the shallow crest breaks in any sea. The cape's cliffs and body shield only the landward N-NE-E sectors, with the western cliffs giving partial cover to the NW-NNW. The result is a genuinely swell-exposed site: calm and superb in a settled Atlantic, unworkable when any westerly swell or southerly wind is running.