Walk report, the Beach in Faro

[Pedro]

I kind of lost the plot and ended up putting a lot more pictures than I thought ...

 

Some of you, being bikers, may have heard of Faro before, the FaroMC organizes one of Europes' biggest rallies usually during June I think, already in its 27th edition, 2020 and 2021 were the first years it didn't happen since the early 80s. It is a huge club and has a big impact on the town itself, and the way bikes are used and treated there.

Faro is not very much a tourist city like others in the Algarve are, you have no big touristy hotels, no resorts, and the beach is not located within easy reach of the town center but instead on a strip of land 10km drive away. It is very unique, and old school portuguese. Being stuck with no bike I had no ease of parking so ended up walking a lot more than usual, which I actually appreciated. Having nothing really to do I took long walks with stops for swims.

The pin on the left with "Ilha de Faro" is the only access land access to the beach, and what I'll be showing you, that and the beach until "Praia da Barrinha"

 

The bridge to the "island" only has one alternated lane, which means it's a bitch to get on if you're driving a cage. No such problems for bikes as shown below:

 

The nature reserve itself, between the beach and the main town is a beautiful place to visit

 

Harleys are popular here, more so than anywhere else in Portugal, being used in daily life more than pampered, but even most other bikes are more often characterful and used, some with quite the patina from the sun and salty winds. 

 

Some poor souls wasting their filtering powers:

 

Even spotted Pete's bike, complete with sidestand over lean, and all the boxes needed for the family's beach essentials  ...   

 

 

Proper private parking place for this guy next to his restaurant, no scorching bike!

 

Onto our tour around that strip on land called Ilha de Faro, you access through the bridge, here with no traffic as it's older and I was on the bike:

 

it used to be mainly fishermen's houses, now there are plenty of nicer fixed up weekend homes, a few restaurants and bars, and a couple of hostels, but it retained most of it's charm. The main street already away from the fuss and into mostly small homes:

 

In a few places you have houses that are 20 meters away from the water inland, and 100 meters away from the beach on the other side

 

And the narrow accesses between houses when there are two or three rows of homes between the street and the beach

 

Here I'm standing on the beach, you get three rows of houses, the street, one row of houses, and then water on the other side

 

some are quite small and not exactly luxurious, in the winter they're not really comfortable but what a view and beach access:

 

If you continue until the end of the street, you'll find my preferred parking place when on a motorcycle, already getting to the sand away from the crowd

 

The creaky boardwalk into the beach is the only access to the fishermen homes out in the dunes, the sign says no motorcycles except for residents 

 

 

Their roadways for a few meters:

 

Now, onto the beach life, obviously the closer you are to the access bridge and main parking areas, the more crowded it is. It is very much a family oriented beach, similar in beach life to the north of portugal, grandparents taking their small grandkids for the morning while parents are at work, that sort of thing. It perfectly mixes with tourists from all over. I feel like a perv taking pictures of people on the beach, so try to avoid it more so when there are hot chicks in them or topless women.

Teenagers waiting for the adrenalin boat ride being towed on flotation devices, I would say there's a 25% change of rope burn, and it properly stings in the salty water too 

 

I am not a big fan of quads, but they do serve a purpose, and there are worse jobs to have than patrol the sand every hour or so 

 

On windy afternoons, kitesurfers, as soon as you see the kites in the distance, you already know there's going to be sand blowing everywhere.

 

The busy parts of the beach have lifeguards. If you're going to drown, better do it very loudly or I think you won't get their attention away from tinder

 

Early morning crowd, families about to start getting pestered with crowds of younger people who don't make it to the beach before 10AM 

 

 

There is a big child shelter in Faro, to harbor kids who are mainly taken away from dangerous and/or abusive situations. They have facilities here that I suppose are used as a holiday camp for the summertime, here they are packing up at the end of a beach afternoon

 

 

Group of friends hanging out after sunset, eating pizza and drinking beer, there are worse things to do. 

 

Fishing boats, quite close to the sand this year

 

Tourists at the end of day 

 

On some days, the sky color is amazing and a darker blue than I've seen anywhere.

 

Beach scene, 6PM on quite a warm day.

 

There's a pastry that for whatever reason is very popular in the beach, and in most parts of Portugal you get people walking the beach selling them. It's origins are German, it's the Berliner. In Germany it's usually filled with fruit jelly and only partly so as the flavors are quite strong, in Portugal it's more like a custard sandwich with plenty of filling, like so:

 

It's very sugary on the outside and very sweet, but when you're all salty from the ocean it hits the spot for most people. I make an effort to avoid them very much ... 

Here you have the "Bolas de Berlim" guy being called over by a family, it's not an easy job walking the soft sand carrying those cases

 

 

Faro sometimes is a little windy in the afternoon, and when that happens the wind usually dies down before sunset, you get the feeling it's getting warmer as the sun is setting, these nights in the Algarve with just a hint of a breeze and 25º outside are magical, I went on a walk at the end of the afternoon up until night time, sunset was at about 20:30. This is one of the reasons restaurants are open until very late and get clients arriving at 10 or 11pm.

Faro in the distance, on the other side of the water with an ultra low tide

Earlier that day I had a nice swim in the same spot but with a bigger tide

 

Walking at night and getting away from the shore, better watch where you step

 

Literally the end of the beach, you can walk with water waist or chest high to the other side for a couple of hours before the tide rises back up. 

 

 

 

There was a forest fire that blew a smoke cloud over the ocean and created this light when the sun started to drop behind it and then set behind the Atlantic, quite an end to the day.

 

 

 

[XTreme]

Those are absolutely brilliant shots Pedro!

Must have been very frustrating being round all those bikes and yours is the other side of the country!

[boboneleg]

Thanks for showing us the real Faro, as you pointed out about the huge biker rally it was the only thing I knew about Faro before.

Are those house on the edge of the beach at risk of flooding from winter storms  ?

[Sir Fallsalot]

4 hours ago, Pedro said:

 

There's a pastry that for whatever reason is very popular in the beach, and in most parts of Portugal you get people walking the beach selling them. It's origins are German, it's the Berliner. In Germany it's usually filled with fruit jelly and only partly so as the flavors are quite strong, in Portugal it's more like a custard sandwich with plenty of filling, like so:

 

I think you'll find that's a doughnut  

[Grasshopper]

Beautiful beaches... 

Some lovely shots Pedro.

[Catteeclan]

Please note @Tym This is proof for women on the beach.

 

On 20/08/2021 at 17:56, Sir Fallsalot said:

I think you'll find that's a doughnut  

Thought the same.

Excellent that, beautiful place.

[Tym]

Whats up with the life vests? 

[Specs]

Excellent photos Pedro!

[Pedro]

On 23/08/2021 at 21:18, Tym said:

Whats up with the life vests? 

Waiting for the boat to come take them out on a flotation towed device

On 20/08/2021 at 17:56, Sir Fallsalot said:

I think you'll find that's a doughnut  

The dough might be similar, except these are fried, no hole in the middle, and completely open with filling inside

 

On 20/08/2021 at 15:07, boboneleg said:

 

Are those house on the edge of the beach at risk of flooding from winter storms  ?

On really the most severe of storms, they are getting quite close to where the waves get, but I don’t think they have much to worry about for a few more years. They are not top of the line insulation, so with high winds and ocean spray I would guess they’re not confortable at all in winter.

[yen_powell]

Very atmospheric photographs. I fancy a doughnut now though. Too late, just got back from the shop as well....

[Sir Fallsalot]

4 hours ago, Pedro said:

The dough might be similar, except these are fried, no hole in the middle, and completely open with filling inside

We have doughnuts with no hole deep fried and filled with various things like Jam, custard, vanilla  and so on 

 

[Catteeclan]

56 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

We have doughnuts with no hole deep fried and filled with various things like Jam, custard, vanilla  and so on 

 

Yep, local Morrisons do a good range.

[Sir Fallsalot]

1 hour ago, Catteeclan said:

Yep, local Morrisons do a good range.

good job there's not one near me or i'd be on my way there now 

[Pedro]

2 hours ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

We have doughnuts with no hole deep fried and filled with various things like Jam, custard, vanilla  and so on 

 

Well, call them whatever you want but that’s like calling a screw a nut!

They’re berliners!