The views from the Cabo de São Vicente lighthouse, on the western edge of the Portuguese Algarve, are impressive.
That "something happens in Portugal" we have been aware for some time. Well, forget about that expression, because actually "everything happens in Portugal".
Now that we have rediscovered its beaches, we have embraced its gastronomy without artifice and we have become hooked on its relaxed crafts during the summer months... it's time for us to approach their leisurely lifestyle also out of season, when tranquility invades its shores and the adjective 'remote' acquires its true meaning. Because the beaches of the Algarve are endless and beautiful, but in solitude they are much more so.
Dozens of people watching the sun disappear over the horizon on a cliff next to the Cabo de San Vicente lighthouse.
ESSENTIAL VISITS
For a long time, Europeans considered the Portuguese west as the end of the known world. A mystical image that the arid terrain and the sheer cliffs carved by the force of the Atlantic they did nothing but enhance. And there, precisely in one of the westernmost and most remote points of the continent, on that sharp point that is the chin of the peninsula, they built the Cabo de São Vicente lighthouse, which belongs to the council of Vila do Bispo.
Built on a 16th century fortress – one of the many that the corsair Francis Drake dedicated himself to destroying during his expeditions – the lighthouse is today one of the most attractive points on the coast and the wild and 'almost' unaltered Costa Portuguese Vincentian. The best thing about accessing it outside of the summer season is that you will avoid the huge line that usually exists to take a photo in the gigantic red chair what is in the entrance
You will also be able to live in a more spiritual and less playful way light show that occurs during sunset, the one that hundreds of people are forced to share (some recklessly) sitting on a nearby cliff.
Some visitors are equally puzzled and disappointed by the sobriety and 'empty' feeling of the Fortress of Sagres, but give this rehabilitated building a chance, with its huge compass rose, its church of Nossa Senhora da Graça (16th century) and its baroque carving of São Vicente protecting a ship, its cistern-tower and its Museum of Portuguese Discoveries installed inside.
Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça in the Sagres Fortress.
Much more sober are the menhirs in the Vila do Bispo region and they are not less important for that, since it is one of the largest concentrations of megalithic monuments in the Iberian Peninsula. The Menhir do Padrão and the Roteiro do Monte dos Amantes are the easiest to find, in addition to their size, because they are on the way to Ingrina beach.
THE SURF
True surf professionals do not travel to Portugal in summer, and not because of its crowded beaches, but because of the quality of the waves, which improves from the month of October. In addition, the water temperature is soft and constant until May.
At Mareta beach, the swell, or background sea, is west/northwest and at Beliche, although you have to be careful with the currents, it is northwest (yes, this is the remote sandbank surrounded by cliffs that must be accessed by a steep staircase and where a beach bar is usually installed between the rocks).
The Après Surf takes place in the Dromedario Bar and in the rest of the small venues that line Rua Comandante Matoso, on 'LA' the main street in Sagres.
Surfers descending towards Beliche beach, in Sagres.
LEISURE AND SERVICES
João, the local driver who takes me from here to there, tells me that English and German tourists, who are supposed to be experts in the area, are more likely to book the hotel in the city of Lagos. However, he has detected that the Spanish we prefer the old fishing village of Sagres as a geographical point to pivot around the area. It will be because we are already tired of saturated beach areas.
That is why the resort that perhaps best suits our tastes and needs – even though it is a family establishment – is Martinhal Sagres Beach Resort & Hotel, whose location, exclusive services and sports and leisure facilities make it perfect for enjoy this part of the Algarve.
There are tennis, paddle tennis, mountain bikes, surfing, kayaking, swimming classes where children learn to float in a week!, surfing and kitesurfing... and also a mini club where the little ones can entertain themselves with countless activities while you relax in its Finisterra Spa, with all kinds of treatments (as a couple, as a family...) in cabins that surround a relaxing and idyllic garden.
IN THE TABLE
And the best thing, that to taste the authentic algarvian seafood You won't have to leave the hotel, as its As Dunas restaurant, overlooking the beach, is known for the quality of its fresh fish and seafood.
Beach Rooms, the most requested at Martinhal Sagres Beach Resort & Hotel.
Here what is customary is to get up from the table, approach the exhibitor and choose the catch of the day that most convinces you so that later the chef prepares it for you in salt, in the oven or in Josper: sea bream, turbot, sea bream, sole...
The seafood also deserves a special mention: oysters and clams from the Formosa estuary, fried shrimp in garlic and piri piri oil, lobster and lobster from the Vicentine coast, mussels from Cabo de San Vicente... Authentic, local and fresh! Like everything you'll find in Sagres when the rest of the world prefers to stay locked up at home with a blanket in front of the fireplace.