An open-water swim off Praia de Altura, part of the Algarve's open-water circuit, with a 1,500m official race and an 800m course for beginners.
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Praia de Altura hosts the 21st Prova de Mar "Vila de Castro Marim" on 16 August, a stop on the Circuito de Aguas Abertas do Algarve organised with the Associacao de Natacao do Algarve. Swimmers aged 14 and over affiliated with a national or recognised international federation take on the 1,500m official course, while an 800m divulgacao race is open to anyone aged 12 or over, affiliated or not. It is one of nine open-water stages held around the Algarve coast every August, and Altura's flat, sheltered bay makes it one of the more accessible legs of the circuit to watch from the sand.
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A tiny whitewashed hamlet above a lagoon where, at low tide, locals wade across to an empty white sandbar. Cacela Velha is barely a dozen houses, a church and an old fort on a bluff at the eastern end of the Ria Formosa. The magic is below: when the tide drops, the lagoon empties to warm shallows and you can walk out to a long ribbon of white sand with clear Atlantic water on the far side. Oysters are farmed in the channels, and the view from the churchyard wall is one of the finest in the east Algarve. Park at Fábrica or above the hamlet, check the tide table before you go, and carry everything you need, as the sandbar has no shade or facilities.
A small waterfall and deep green lagoon hidden in the Asseca valley, a ten minute drive inland from Tavira. Fed by the Ribeira da Asseca, the falls drop over an ochre limestone ledge into a pool that local legend swears is bottomless. Generations of Tavira families learned to swim here, and on summer evenings you will still find people picnicking on the rocks while teenagers dare each other off the lower ledges. Wildfires and storms have battered the old walkways over the years, so the setting is rougher than the postcard suggests, which is exactly why it stays quiet. Park by the lane above Santo Estêvão and walk the last stretch down; go on a weekday morning for the clearest water, and carry your rubbish out.
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by Matt's Bar
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