Portimao

Having left the Guadiana River we headed for our final destination on mainland Portugal - Portimao where there is a huge estuary with with several marinas and plenty of space to anchor.  It is a popular tourist destination - on one side of the estuary there is a very busy beach where you can participate in such activities as beach and aqua aerobics to the accompaniment of very loud music.

Thousands of people on the beach, enjoying the clear water and beach inflatables.

Portimao is a big kayak centre, and this was a regular sight in the anchorage

The kayaks are being towed out of the harbour as it's quite a distance to the caves and best snorkelling areas.

Fishing is as popular as ever here.

The coastline is spectacular, with lots of beautiful sandy beaches - many are more easily accessed by sea than land

Looking back towards Portimao town

One of the many sinkholes in the limestone rock, not a good place to walk in the dark!

An old lookout tower near Portimao.

The trip from Portimao to Madeira is just under 500 nautical miles, a four day trip - and a good time to break out a new red ensign

So now we move on to the Atlantic islands - Madeira and Canaries before we leave Europe and head for the African Cape Verde islands.