Deserta island
Virgin sand and the island's lone restaurant.
Winniepix from UK — CC BY 2.0 · Marco Jacobeu — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0
The Ria Formosa is the Algarve's water wonder: a sixty-kilometre coastal lagoon parted from the ocean by barrier sand islands — a maze of channels and tide flats breathing twice daily, a natural park among Portugal's Seven Natural Wonders and a million migrant birds' corridor: pink flamingos in winter flocks, and Europe's largest seahorse colony in its meadows. It is lived by boat from Faro's marina: island tours (empty Deserta with its lone restaurant and virgin beach, Farol with village and lighthouse, fishermen's Culatra) or small nature cruises threading the flats at tide — with island-sand swimming the Algarve's cleanest water. It is the other beach: not the west's golden cliffs but a horizon of sand, water and shellfish — the clam-digger standing in the tide its truest picture. Choose small boats with long stops — and mind the tide: the lagoon changes face every six hours.
Virgin sand and the island's lone restaurant.
Carless fishermen — the last Portugal.
Standing in the tide — the lagoon's mother image.
Ria Formosa Natural Park, Faro
Two choosing rules: a small boat (12-20), never a barge, and at least two island stops with a swimming hour — eco tours with a guide reading richer for children (seahorse and clam tales). The public Farol ferry out and back is the excellent budget half-day.