Tavira and the beach

December 8 -10, 2018

After my last day of diving in Faro and an afternoon beach walk, I packed up my bags and headed to the train station. The ticket office was still closed for lunch, so I enjoyed a late lunch myself with a view of the marina, then caught the 5:00 train to Tavira, past Faro to the east.

It was an easy walk down the train station down the hill into Tavira, and I enjoyed all the holiday lights decorating the night. In the main plaza there was a giant Christmas tree too.

I wasn't really hungry, and nothing seemed to be open anyway, so I just went to bed.

The next morning I caught sunrise over the Gilão River, grabbed breakfast at a cafe, and headed out for a day at the beach.

There were two ways to get to the island beach offshore from town. Walk southwest for a ways to another town and cross a bridge, or take a ferry from Tavira. My plan was to walk there, walk all the way up the beach, then take the ferry back at the end.

The sunny morning walk took me through the small fishing town of Santa Luzia. It was apparently low tide as a bunch of boats were beached in the mud flats.

The bridge to Praia de Barril crossed the mud flats, and there was an adorable little train that ran to take people the short distance to the beach. I opted to walk.

And at the end of the path I found sand dunes and shining ocean.

There was a beach bar or two, and an anchor cemetery, which is a remnant of the tuna fishing history of the past. When the fishermen stopped fishing, the anchors were left to rust, and somewhere along the way someone decided to line them up.

It took a while to walk the three miles all the way up the beach. I stopped along the way to watch the many fishermen casting out into the surf.

I walked some in the water and some on the hard sand with my shoes back on when my feet got tired.

At the top of the island I found more beach bars and restaurants, and a couple jettys with lighthouses marking the mouth of the river.

After one unsuccessful attempt at finding the ferry I bought ice cream and asked for directions, then gave it a second attempt and managed to find the terribly marked ferry dock. I couldn't make heads nor tails of the posted ferry schedule, so I settled down for a wait of an undetermined amount of time.

In less than an hour a ferry showed up and it was a quick 5 minute motor to the other side of the water to Quatro Aguas, the little town.

Walking back to Tavira was a hot, 20 minute affair, with interesting views of clam beds and salt pans next to the road.

My search for food was only slightly more successful than the previous night (don't visit during ghost town low season if you're a foodie) but I did find a bar that was more Irish than the ones in Dublin.

There was a very Irish young man playing guitar, and everyone else in the bar had an Irish accent and was  clapping, dancing, and singing along to the mostly traditional tunes. I had a snack of bar food (including soda bread) and enjoyed myself. After that however, I was unable to find an open restaurant for actual dinner, so I resorted to buying trail mix and a juice box at the grocery store. Sometimes traveling is glamorous, sometimes it's less so.

I set out the next morning to catch the train back to Faro for my last day in Portugal. I'd like to come back to Tavira sometime when it was slightly more populated in a different time of year and see how it compares.