PEOPLE Hank & Carina

THEN OLHÃO FOUND US...

... and we weren't even looking! Hank and Carina's story of how they came to love and live in Olhão

Welcome to our monthly column celebrating Olhão. After exploring Portugal top to bottom from Braga to Tavira enjoying so many coastal and inland locations in our RV, we decided Olhão was the place to buy our home to celebrate our “golden years”. Olhão was not on our radar at first. In fact, the discovery of Eastern Algarve was a pleasant surprise with the scale of development so much less than areas to the west. A chance winter rental introduced us to Olhão, a place we quickly found attractive for many reasons. “Walkability” is, above all, a main highlight and each month I will introduce you to places only steps away from our front door. Questions, Comments or Suggestions for new columns? Email us at hankryan2003@yahoo.com We hope you will enjoy our column!

ILHA DO FAROL… THE LONG WAY!

Summertime means ocean time in the Eastern Algarve. A pleasant low cost ferry ride from Olhão delivers you to any of the three nearby Ria Formosa barrier island destinations offering beaches fronting the Atlantic Ocean; Armona, Culatra or Farol. Did you know you can walk from one of these island destinations to the other? The stretch of oceanfront starting from the 100% solar powered Molhe Leste beach bar on Culatra offers walking access to Ilha do Farol, technically part of the same island. The 3.5 km trek aiming at the Farol lighthouse takes about 30-40 minutes. An alternative to the beach path is through the dunes that pass through the small community of Hangares. In either case, bring sun protection! Making the return to Olhão on the ferry from Farol completes the circuit. One structure clearly stands out here. In Portuguese, Farol means lighthouse. The village of Farol is named after the 50 meter tall building visible from both Olhão and Faro on the mainland. It was built in 1851 and it was the first lighthouse in Portugal at that time. To find the Maramais beachfront restaurant

featured below, just use the lighthouse right next door as your guide. I’m told you can actually go up in the structure to enjoy the amazing 360 degree view of the Ria Formosa Natural Park. Check it out! In addition to the beachfront destinations on both the Atlantic and Ria Formosa parts of the island, Ilha do Farol hosts cute bungalows, some being year round homes with many decked out with vibrant colors and flowers. There are several open air restaurants that you’ll discover as you walk to the ferry back to Olhão. This, of course, assumes you are willing to leave this beautiful place! With no paved roads or traffic of any kind, peacefulness reigns here!

MARAMAIS

The barrier island destinations reachable by ferry or taxi boat, Armona, Culatra and Farol, all feature ocean front beach bars where drinks, snacks and relaxation are on offer. Carla Sofia Martins has operated her seaside snack bar serving customers since 2005. Pictured with part of her staff (From left to right… Carla Sophia, her sister Andrea Martins, Jorge Martins and Diogo Sousa) the lighthouse next door offers an unmissable landmark. The Caribbean style sun protected seating area fills like clockwork during warm months as the frequent ferry landings deliver sun seekers aiming for a day at the beach. On their website, they offer the slogan, “Sit down, relax and we do the rest!” If there emerges a competition among these barrier islands celebrating where the best comfy chairs in the shade deliver maximum relaxation, we suggest Maramais wins that contest hands down. After our trek hoofing it from Culatra, Carina and I got lucky to find a few of these comfy chairs vacant and settled down for the long haul, or least as much as we could eat and drink at a respectfully slow pace :-) Maramais provides an extensive food and drink menu; Trip Advisor reviews deliver 4.5 stars. You can combine both jumping into the brisk Atlantic waters right out front with live music and friendly service. They even deliver refreshments directly to your spot on the sand! When you are ready for the 30 minute ferry ride back to Olhão, take advantage of the free outdoor shower to freshen up! Carla Sophia welcomes guests from Easter through the end of October. The sign out front says they open at 10am every day. Closing times vary with the season. Cash only please. Fine Print – For our full introduction, see our first column online in the December 2021 issue. (https://www.eastalgarvemag.com/) We choose to focus on businesses here in Olhão where we have actually been customers first. Any future advertising from these businesses that supports East Algarve Magazine is purely coincidental :-)

Fine Print – For our full introduction, see our first column online in the December 2021 issue. (https://www.eastalgarvemag.com/) We choose to focus on businesses here in Olhao where we have actually been customers first. Any future advertising from these businesses that supports Eastern Algarve Magazine is purely coincidental :-)