Travel Talks: 5 of Laura Crane's favourite surfing destinations

From shipwreck dives to cave dives, there are endless thrills to be found on and in the water. Professional surfer and model Laura Crane shares her favourite spots for catching the perfect wave.

1. Ponta Ruiva, South Portugal

At the time of writing this, I'd just arrived in this incredible spot. I drove from where I live in Portugal. It’s off the beaten track so I got lost a few times, but there are really fun little waves here. You can watch the most beautiful sunsets from the beach. The views are incredible.

Waking up this morning in a tent on the beach at sunrise to the most perfect waves was magical. However, there’s basically no phone signal here – so make sure you call your mum before you leave!

When I lived in Bali, we used to go for weekend getaway trips to Bingin Beach and stay in homestays right on the beach. There’s no Wi-Fi and no phone signal, so it feels totally detached from the world.

My friends and I drove up once and spent the whole day surfing and sunbathing and in the evening, the local restaurants set up tables on the beach and cooked for us, which was amazing!

Make sure you have everything with you when you set off as the walk down to the beach takes about an hour and is very steep. I’ve left my bikini in the car before and had to hike all the way back to get it. Luckily the scenery is so beautiful I didn’t mind too much.

The fact that this place is so untouched by tourism makes it truly special. As soon as you arrive you’re experiencing the true culture of the island.

I went there for the first time last summer and stayed in a place on a private part of the beach where only guests staying there could surf, which was so nice. And the waves were idyllic too!

On the first morning we woke up early to watch the sunrise. Not one person was in ocean and we surfed the most perfect waves for two hours. Then I had an Acai fruit bowl and watched the ocean. I'd recommend surfers to try their best to stay on that barrel wave, as it’s amazing.

The water is super clear, which is always a plus and when we were there in mid summer, there were so many butterflies it looked like something out of a fairytale.

This beach literally five minutes from where I live and has some of the best waves in Europe. On the first full day of Spring last year, my friends and I all went down there for a day of perfect waves and a barbecue on the beach. The sun shone all day!

The waves there range from intermediate to advanced, so I would advise any beginners to go with someone with experience. And always keep away from the rocks.

The beach itself is situated at the bottom of a cliff surrounded by headlands so the scenery is so beautiful.

I’d been in Bali for almost a year and really wanted to go somewhere that was untouched by tourism and Sumbawa was perfect. There is so much culture there, I loved it.

We rented motorbikes to look for some secret waves some local friends told us about. We drove two hours to get there, got lost several times, but when we finally came out at the end of a dirt track, they were the most perfect righthand waves we’d ever seen.

It’s a bit of a mission to get there so I would definitely recommend taking a plane followed by a quick ferry ride rather than driving and taking the longer ferry.

The people make Sumbawa so special. The locals don’t see many tourists so they are so much more accommodating and excited to get to know you. They just want to talk to you and hear about all your experiences.