The Pull of the Water

Between The Waves And The World

After years of building community on the rugby pitch, Carita is bringing the same spirit to Lisbon’s surf breaks.

The Pull of the Water

The salt spray hangs heavy in the air, a familiar, grounding mist. Carita stands at the water’s edge, eyes scanning the horizon where the Atlantic meets the sky. He has been here before, countless times, watching the rhythm of the swell. It is the only place that feels truly still. For Carita, the ocean has always been his sanctuary—a cathedral of moving water where he goes to recharge, to think, and to exist exactly as he is.

He grew up in Lisbon, a city where sports were the heartbeat of childhood. By five, he was moving with the precision of a gymnast. His early years were shaped by a strict religious upbringing, a life that provided a foundation of values but carried the quiet, heavy shadow of worry regarding his own identity. He was, as he puts it, a different sort of boy. He moved between worlds, playing soccer with the boys and games with the girls, his young heart exploring in ways he did not yet have the language to explain.

A Life in Motion

Transitioning from childhood to adulthood meant choosing between these worlds. At nineteen, he stepped into a relationship that demanded an ultimatum: choose the path of the boyfriend, or remain alone. It was a brutal fracture. To accept that love, he had to leave his religion and the friends who had populated his first eighteen years. It was a heavy price, paid in silence and survival. He threw himself into his banking career, his university studies, and the weekends he spent teaching kids how to ride the waves on a bodyboard.

Bodyboarding had been his constant since he was nine, a foam board acting as his tether to the sea. For twenty-five years, he carved paths through the surf, eventually earning his stripes as a coach. When he finally transitioned to a surfboard in 2018, it felt less like a new hobby and more like a homecoming. Standing on the water felt natural, an extension of the movement he had known his entire life.

The Builder of Spaces

Carita is a man who builds things. After leaving behind the structure of his youth, he found a new tribe on the rugby pitch. He helped found the Lisbon Dark Horses, a team that grew into an expansive sports association. Volleyball, swimming, running—he helped nurture it all. For nine years, he lived in the heat of that community, serving as captain and board member. It was, he says, the best time of his life. Through a documentary about the team, he came out on national television, standing tall as a gay man in the world of competitive sports.

He learned something crucial during those years: you can show the world who you are simply by doing what you love. He never felt prejudice in the surf, not even a whisper of it. He recounts, with a warm laugh, the time he spent so much energy with a close straight friend that they eventually had to clarify to their circle that they weren't a couple. He calls his friend his 'straight boyfriend' now, a shorthand for the easy, unburdened way he navigates his life.

A New Horizon

Now, the pull of the water has brought him to a new project. He feels that Lisbon deserves more—a dedicated space for queer surfers to find each other. 'I feel Lisbon has to have a surf community of this type,' he says. There are scattered initiatives, but he knows there is a need for something more deliberate, something that brings people together before they even hit the water.

It began with an Instagram account and a WhatsApp group. It seems simple, but it is the architecture of belonging. He has already hosted his first meetup, a quiet gathering of souls who share the same love for the ocean. He is already planning the next surf session, looking toward a future of larger events, of more people finding their way to the lineup. He is doing what he has always done: creating a place where people can be exactly who they are. Because in the end, it isn’t just about catching a wave. It is about who you are standing next to when the tide goes out.

Between The Waves And The World