Know The Feeling Brazil: Get to Know Bela Nalu

While exploring Brazil, we caught up with local girl and Billabong surfer Bela Nalu. She gave us the lowdown on this beautiful country and all things surfing. 

Read on to learn more about Bela:

Who and what inspired you to start surfing?

Growing up seeing my dad surfing has mainly inspired me to surf, I’ve also learned so much by traveling.

What’s your favorite local wave to surf (out of the ones you can share)?

My favorite local wave to surf is Matadeiro in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

We see a world where everyone Knows The Feeling of riding a wave, how would you describe “The Feeling”?

The feeling of riding a wave is a unique feeling, you can feel the power of the ocean and the way that it works, it’s the BEST feeling ever!

Give us your must-do’s for someone visiting Brazil for the first time?

Eat Feijoada which is a Brazilian dish with beans, different types of meat with rice, banana, and farofa. 

Surf around Koaquina, which is located in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Go to different places to fully explore the culture, catch the sunrise, and make your way to Rio de Janeiro!

What’s your favorite thing about the local community and being back home?

My favorite things about the local community are my friends, my family, and my culture. People are always so warm and I have a lot of friends here. The food is also veryyyy good, so that's a plus! Haha

Brazilian eats. Give us all the recs. What should we try!

Brigadeiro, it’s a Brazilian sweet. We eat it a lot, coxinha, feijoada, cangica, and a PF which is like our everyday meal!

How do you prep for a surf in your homebreak?

I usually prepare my boards, fins, wax, leash and wetsuit, then my dad and I drive to the surf spot and I put on my wetsuit, stretch a bit and go surffff!

If you could give any advice to anyone taking up surfing, what would it be?

Definitely be persistent and knowing that everyone has good and bad days. 

If you have a bad surfing day, don’t get mad or stressed out because the next session could be your best one yet! That is really how surfing works!

What’s next for Bela Nalu?

What’s next for me is I am competing a lot!

I am super excited because next month I’m going to be competing at my first challenger series as a wildcard, and right after that I have a superrr important 5000 QS that is going to determine if I make the challenger next year.

I am also going to Hawaii in December for a bit, then probably travel back to Brazil.