The immensity of the beach admired from the beach club of the Sublime Comporta hotel
We are arriving at Comporta and our senses begin to dream of eternal summers. The road ends at a fork in front of the rice fields. Beyond, are the dunes and behind, the ocean. Just to the right, the little town we have been looking for.
Until a decade ago, few people outside of Portugal had heard of Comporta. Today that is no longer the case. In fact, it has been wanted to compare this area of Portugal with so many places in the world (which if Saint-Tropez in the 50s, what if hamptons , Ibiza or Jose Ignacio). However, this place has a soul of its own.
The story of Comporta, as we know it today, begins on a hot summer morning in 1956, when Jose and Manuel Espirito Santo , sailing on their sailboat, set their eyes for the first time on the Herdade da Comporta . A desert area if you don't take into account its rice fields and the rustic cabins of those who worked in them. The Espírito Santo brothers fell in love with the place and bought its more than 15,000 hectares. For decades, almost only the family and their close friends enjoyed this idyllic and almost untouched landscape.
In addition to having a unique ecosystem (the sea, the dunes, the rice fields and the pine forests), Comporta is an ideal destination for disconnect . His reputation for attracting the international jet set or artists of the stature of Anselm Kiefer or Jason Martin –who have their studios in the area– does not mean that it is a place to see and be seen, discretion being the rule.
According to Jacques Granger , one of his illustrious vacationers, "the perfect day in Comporta is one in which there is no plan and everything is improvised at the moment".
BEACHES
When we talk about Comporta, we are actually talking about a whole coastal strip that includes nine towns and a beach that extends uninterruptedly along 60 kms.
Although the one in Comporta is very pretty, our favorites are the one in Carvalhal and Pego . But it is also worth exploring other wilder ones, located a few kilometers further south, such as Pinheirinho , Galé or Aberta a Nova: less crowded and of great beauty.
Stroll along a deserted beach of indomitable nature
NATURE AND SPORTS
Integrated in the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve and the Comporta-Galé Site of Community Interest, this area has a great diversity of natural systems: beaches and dunes, marshes, forests, forest areas, salt flats, rice fields and peat bogs.
One of the best plans to enjoy this nature is to take a bike , electric or not, along the paths of the rice paddies . It is an active meditation and a gift for the senses. Comporta Electric Bikes makes available to its customers, including home delivery, electric bicycles in Lagoa Formosa and Praia do Carvalhal.
The dolphins are very common here and the company Vertigem Blue organizes boat and sailboat rides to observe these cetaceans. On the other hand, and although we are in the wild Atlantic, the waves of the sea are usually calm, allowing surfing, even for beginners. The schools of surfing and paddle surfing from the beaches of Pego and Carvalhal, Imagine Surf School and Surf in Comporta , respectively, are a good choice.
Another of the most spectacular plans are the horse trips by the beach. Cavalos na Areia For a decade, it has had professional guides so that anyone, even without previous experience, can enjoy this unique plan. After the ride you can snack and have a drink at the bar that Cavalos na Areia just opened, Bar na Areia, with magnificent views.
If yours is the yoga don't stop going to yoga shala , to practice it in the middle of pine trees and rice fields, in an open pavilion and with the help of Professor Tomás de Mello Breyner. If after so much sport a contracture arises, there are two luxury spas to solve them: the Sublime Spa and the Oryza Spa , the wellness center Hotel Quinta da Comporta that uses rice as a fundamental element.
A route through Comporta... by bicycle
SHOPPING
A good plan is to search the antique and "brocantes" shops to discover the authentic treasures of the most rural Portugal: as in Santa Maria Velharias , Julio Luis Maria or Velharias Sara, in the town of Carvalhal . In terms of design and high quality craftsmanship, Rice is an essential, as well as the shop of the aforementioned Jacques Grange and his partner Pierre Passebon, Stork Club , also in Carvalhal. Or the furniture Vintage Department , which in addition to its warehouse in Marvila (Lisbon) have a store in Comporta.
Elizabeth Costa , a former model and businesswoman, has just opened her store in the old dependency of the Comporta fiscal guard, The Life Juice , which in addition to selling luxury pajamas, has a very careful selection of different brands of clothing, crafts and art.
Every year the center House of Culture of Comporta offers the best Portuguese brands and products by holding a pop-up under the name of Summer Market. In Gomes Mercearia , a luxury grocery store located in Comporta, you can buy local and gourmet products, as well as having a small restaurant to eat something. In the textile section, Lavender continues to be an ideal place for its selection, but also for being a meeting point when leaving the beach. Right next door is high bar , our favorite bar in Comporta: its breakfasts and late afternoons, with a daisy daisy in hand, they are already a classic. The sympathy and good work of the brothers Filipe and Vasco Branco They always make Colmo the most pleasant stop.
WHERE TO EAT
After cooling off with a swim in the crystal clear water –and here not so cold– of the Portuguese Atlantic, the plan is to eat at one of the surrounding restaurants and beach bars to try the local cuisine. Your best bet? The seafood and fish grilled fresh.
The beach restaurant par excellence is still the Rice Island of Isabelinha Carvalho, a pioneer in the area. Salt , on Pego beach, is a great restaurant and a sure value. On the adjoining Carvalhal beach, we have O Dinis , with the Company of beach-club of the Hotel Sublime, where you can eat delicious fish and drink the best sangria we've tasted in a long time. Here, we accept it, there is a bit of seeing and being seen.
Cavalarica , in Comporta, is a wonderful restaurant whose location in the old horse stables is wonderful. Still in Comporta we also have Taste of the Sea and the occasional novelty such as a Poke House. Nearby, you can try a divine razor rice at Sado Boat.
The new "chiringuito" of the Sublime Comporta hotel
On the beautiful road that goes south, just three kilometers from Comporta, we have another classic in the area, the restaurant Dona Bia . There we eat, for example, the best pataniscas of cod, some very thin tortillas with the star fish of Portugal. Whereas in Pica Fish , in the center of Carvalhal, you can try some authentic samosas Indians, a dish adopted as their own by the Portuguese via Goa and Mozambique.
To finish, we recommend you try the wines produced by Heritage of Comporta , especially its rosé and sparkling wines. Or stop by the winery shop, located in a beautiful building with traditional architecture, and go for a wine tasting.
WHERE TO SLEEP
The best way to enjoy Comporta is to rent a house and Comport Homepage They have the best selection in the area. Although the favorites are Cabins of Comporta , inspired by the houses of local fishermen, made of wood and thatched roofs, but with all the comforts of simple luxury . Almost all of them have a swimming pool or are right on the beach.
For some years the sublime behavior It is the most luxurious hotel in the area, located a few kilometers from the beach and with its own organic garden.
Do they make some 'pataniscas'?
In the middle of the rice fields and already reaching Carvalhal beach, it is Quinta da Comporta , another luxury option in the area. A little further south, and inland, just opened Spatia Comporta.
It is considered to Troian Peninsula as part of the Comporta area and another good possibility of accommodation to enjoy excellent holidays is the Pestana Tróia Eco-Resort & Residences , which offers apartments and villas surrounded by nature just five minutes' walk from the long beach, located just over 10 km north of the town of Comporta.
CULTURE
Although Comporta is not a cultural destination per se, there are some touches that give activity to the area. An example is the collaborative exhibition –titled O Canto do Bode– by the prestigious Brazilian galleries Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, Luisa Strina and Sé, with the set design by the artist João Maria Gusmão. Thirty-two artists represented by the galleries, in addition to four invited artists, occupy the former cinema-theater of the House of Culture of Comporta , which becomes an ephemeral gallery. Until August 29 you can see and buy, if your pocket allows it, the work of artists of the stature of Eleanor Antunes, Robert Mapplethorpe , Cildo Meireles, Ernesto Neto, Mauro Restiffe, Julião Sarmento or the same Joao Maria Gusmao.
in Troy
Another of the essential plans to get to know the area is to go to the very “Instagrammable” port Palafitico da Carrasqueira . Between marshes, rice fields and salt pans, the jetties of different heights are nailed that form this small and dilapidated port, whose image is reminiscent of other places in the area of Southeast Asia and which is still in full use.
We cannot stop recommending visiting the Troia roman ruins , National Heritage of Portugal. During the period of Roman occupation (1st century to 6th century AD), Tróia was an island in the Sado delta, called Isla de Alcalá, which had salting factories , where fish sauces and preserves were produced and then exported in large quantities throughout the empire.
Although Comporta is a calm destiny , even in the height of summer, there is much to do and discover, while enjoying its unique nature throughout the year. as the artist says Jason Martin : “The landscape is extraordinary and green, even in the dry months. You have four different shades of evergreen – olive, pine, eucalyptus and cork – throughout the year. And when it rains in the fall, there's this huge flood of color, like a second spring."