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Algarve Sea Tour: Full-Day Excursion with Benagil Cave Boat Trip from Lisbon
4.6
7 Ratings
Portimao
Embark on a full-day excursion from Lisbon to the Algarve coast and experience the stunning beauty of the region. Take a boat trip to the famous Benagil caves, visit picturesque beaches, and enjoy informative commentary from your guide. Customize your itinerary and make it a lifetime experience!
Duration:
11 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
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Marina de Portimao - Located in the estuary of the River Arade, Portimão is known for its excellent sandy beaches with plenty of warm, calm waters, which make it a very alluring holiday destination.
Portimão has a long fishing tradition that developed particularly between the 19th and 20th centuries with the advent of the canning industry and tourism. Most of the buildings that you see in the streets and squares of the historic centre are from this period, as well as the building that houses the Portimão Museum, a superb refurbishment of an old cannery that received the Museum of the Year award from the Council of Europe in 2010. It pays homage to the people and the city that for centuries have lived exclusively of and for the sea.
You shouldn’t miss the simply styled Chapel of São José de Alcalar or the impressive Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), built in the 15th century on top of a hill, and standing out in the city’s skyline; it was badly damaged by the 1755 earthquake, but retains its beautiful original Gothic portal. For a break in your meanderings, it’s best to rest in the shade of the trees of the Manuel Bivar Garden to see the fishing boats and pleasure craft sail past. Or on the promenade beside the Marina, one of the liveliest parts of the city both by day and by night.
Most of the restaurants, where you will find grilled sardines, the favourite local dish, are on the waterfront, next to the docks. Although sardines are eaten throughout the region and indeed across the country, they are particularly famous in Portimão and have a festival in their honour in August. But there are many other fish and seafood specialties to try, such as clams, whelk bean stew, casseroles and bouillabaisses. Broad beans, cornmeal (a kind of polenta) and the traditional almond- and fig-based sweets of the region are a few more in the wide range of ingredients on offer.
Praia da Rocha, about 3 kilometres from the centre, is perhaps the best known beach in the Algarve, with the picture postcard scene of its huge swathe of sand being widespread internationally. It’s been a busy seaside resort since the beginning of the 20th century, and it has a casino and offers an endless number of leisure activities. It also had great strategic importance in the 15th century. It was here that the Fortress of Santa Catarina de Ribamar was built to defend the harbour and the population from attacks by pirates, providing crossfire with the São João do Arade Fort, right in front in Ferragudo, alongside another extensive sandy beach aptly called Praia Grande.
The Praia da Rocha Fortress provides today an excellent view over the city, the river and the sea, which acquires a special charm in the evening, in the light of the setting sun. From here you can also catch sight of some of the beaches to the west, beginning with the Três Castelos Beach. Some smaller, others larger, but always framed by jagged rocks that embellish the landscape, here you’ll find Careanos, Vau, Barranco das Canas, João d’Arens, Prainha and Três Irmãos beaches. This sequence ends at the long sandy beach of Praia do Alvor and its estuary, an area of lagoons important for aquatic bird watching.
But to get a complete view of the Portimão area, you must look at it from all perspectives. For example, take a boat trip along the coast to discover beaches inaccessible by land and admire the rock formations. And those who are fans of game fishing will find this the ideal destination, because this fertile sea abounds in large species such as swordfish. To enjoy other landscapes, you can go up the estuary of the River Arade to Silves, passing between green hills. Along a short distance, you’ll find a varied range of images that will stay etched in your memory.
What's Included
- Private transportation
- On-board WiFi
- Complimentary bottled water
- Comfortable in-vehicle air conditioning
- 1.5-hour guided boat tour of sea caves
What's Not Included
- Entry/Admission - Ponta da Piedade Lighthouse
- Dinner
- Lunch
Additional Information
Embark on a breathtaking full-day excursion along the Algarve coast from Lisbon - an adventure of a lifetime. Experience the Algarve like never before, from its seascapes.
Explore the magnificent Benagil caves, courtesy of a cave boat ride. This trip to the Benagil caves takes you to some of the most spectacular caves in the Algarve, whose rocky enclosure is often regarded as one of the world’s most striking natural marvels (the boat ride is included in the cost).
Relish a 1:30 hour boat journey into the marvellous maritime caves and scenic shores. Next to Praia de Benagil, there exists the immense Algar de Benagil cave, featuring a natural roof opening and a small shoreline, setting off from Portimão under the guidance of our expert.
Enjoy a visit to Lagos, with sights including the Ponta da Piedade view point, Camilo Beach and Dona Ana Beach. Revel in the remarkable coastal views all day while benefiting from enlightening commentary from your guide. Experience the Algarve coast on a full-day private trip from Lisbon, with an itinerary that can be tailored to match your preferences and interests.
Location
Marina de Portimao
Rua Simao Correia
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(7 Ratings)
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Michaell_a
Jun 17, 2024
ALGARVE FROM THE SEA PORTIMÃO includes boat trip to Benagil caves AND LAGOS - Our tour guide Miguel picked us up on time at the hotel. We started our tour to ALGARVE FROM THE SEA PORTIMÃO includes boat trip to Benagil caves AND LAGOS. The tour guide was very knowledge, friendly and professional, he also explained the history of the places that we visited. We loved the whole tour, the boat trip, caves and Lagos are beautiful. We got lunch at a restaurant that he recommended and the food and the service were good. We had a great time.
Review provided by Viator
Giselle_r
Feb 25, 2024
Great Tour! - We had a private tour to Algarve and Phillipe, our guide and driver, made us very comfortable throughout and gave us the best access to the beautiful and picturesque sights of Algarve. This was an experience my daughter and I would cherish. I highly recommend this tour and highly recommend Phillipe!
Review provided by Viator
Louie
Aug 23, 2023
What An Amazing Experience! - I took this trip as the only client/passenger and I enjoy every minute of it. Carlos made sure everything is set up as planned prior to the date of the trip notifying me by email, Jorge, my driver is such a nice guy and we chatted a bit on our way to Algarve which made the long drive a pleasant one. I felt like a VIP starting with the car I was accommodated in, the pre-arranged boat trip and the oceanfront restaurant reserved for me.
This is one trip I can brag to my friends that made me feel a celebrity.
Thanks Carlos and Jorge for giving me great customer service and memories of your country. I'll be using your company when I'm back and you bet that I'll be recommending your company as well to my friends and family.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christine_b
Apr 17, 2023
Delightful day trip - Our guide George was fantastic. He was knowledgeable and the trip exceeded our expectations. He gave us time to explore the different sites and answered any questions we had.
Review provided by Viator
Soojin_y
Apr 16, 2023
Friendly tour guide, beautiful views - Easy way to see the Agarve area with limited time. Friendly, flexible guide who was willing to share local perspectives.
Review provided by Viator
Chandan_c
Mar 20, 2023
Jorge was a great guide... - Jorge was a great guide and driver. His service was excellent. Will definitely book another trip with him in the future
Review provided by Viator
Anne_c
May 14, 2023
Not what was advertised! Do Not Recommend! - We did not get the tour for which we paid. Our tour guide told us that he had made arrangements for us to do the dolphin tour for which we did not contract. I think the reason that this occurred is because the boat company did not have enough boats at the time we would be arriving so they took the four of us on the Dolphin Tour before taking us on the tour of the caves and coast. This was about 2 hours in duration and while we did eventually see dolphins, our entire party did not plan to be on the sea for such an extended period. Once the Dolphin portion of the tour was over, we were given 5 minutes to run up to a restroom before being put back on the boat with the others (different from those on the dolphin tour) to do the cave tour. While the sites were lovely, the interaction between the tour guide and the boat operators was childish and akin to high school boys who were just joking around. This portion of the tour was over at about 3 PM and when we asked to simply pick up a snack, we were told that we needed to move on to Lagos do do the remainder of the tour. We had been picked up at 8 AM and there was no water in the tour van so we had nothing to eat or drink until we stopped in Lagos for lunch at 4 PM. Our entire time in Lagos was just eating and all of the other stops which we had contracted for were omitted from our tour and we then headed back to Lisbon. The tour guide was at times driving up to 165km/hr and the vehicle had some type of engine trouble causing us to have to pull to the side of the rats at least 5-6 times during our trip back to Lisbon. Additionally, the guide was on the speaker phone loudly arguing with someone, I assume the tour company several times during our drive back. While we did see a few nice sites, the tour was not what we paid for and the drive was scary at best. No one wanted to say anything to the guide as he seemed a bit unstable and we just wanted to get back to our hotel with as little aggravation as possible. I requested a partial refund from Viator, which I bought to be fair but was denied! I do not recommend this company at all. Perhaps another tour operation/guide will be able to provide a better tour of this area.
Review provided by Viator
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