Portugal Trip - Cape Sagres and a Kayak Tour
The former “end of the world” is a craggy, windswept, wedge shaped point that juts into the Atlantic. In 1420, Prince Henry the Navigator used his order’s funds to establish a school here for navigators. It was devastated by the 1755 earthquake (which also destroyed Lisbon) so little remains. Today Cape Sagres is popular among two sets of travelers: Those who want photographic evidence that they’ve been to the “end of Europe” and a young international crowd drawn by the strong surf. Rick Steves
We were mesmerized by the view of the waves rolling in to Praia do Tonel. It was breathtaking. We stayed to soak it in for quite some time. We were interested in the fishermen casting their rods from such height. Instead of ‘deep-sea fisherman’ we deemed them ‘high-cliffs fishermen’.
We walked around the outer edge of Cape Sagres and enjoyed views from every angle. We even found our way into a cement structure highlighting a rush of air coming up through the rocks every time the waves rushed in. It was a fun walk.
Praia do Tonel Beach
Scott and Chris braved the freezing water again and once again mimicked the old men with a high five. They stayed in the water a little longer today and did some body surfing. This beach was beautiful! So fun to spend some time watching the waves crash on the rocks.
Kayak Adventure
We headed to the Pier for our 2:00 kayak tour, which we had found and booked the night before.
Chris, Scott, Elisha and I climbed up to the top deck of the catamaran and enjoyed sailing along the coast. When we got closer to the caves of Ponta da Piedade, we boarded our kayaks and followed our guide in and around the caves - hearing interesting facts along the way. It was SO FUN and a perfect way to explore the cool formations. Our guide was great and we stuck close to him so that we could be the first see each new cave. There were a couple of funny things that happened in our group. One guy capsized and then somehow twisted his kayak to completely block the whole cave entrance.
Once back on the catamaran we had the opportunity to hang out on the top and jump in if we so desired. Chris and Scott went for it and did it 3 or 4 times each. Remember - the water was FREEZING! I played the photographer for awhile and then decided to jump in to. Getting my whole body wet in an instant was easier than wading in one inch at a time - which I hadn’t been able to do. It was definitely a shock when I hit the water. It was so hot sitting in the sun so we sure wanted to get in.
After our kayak adventure we headed back to the Pier and found Amarena Gelato - my favorite.
Secret Beach
I kept feeling like each beach we came to was better than the last. Really they were all fantastic for different reasons. We had a tricky time finding this beach. We could see it on the map but couldn’t figure out where to park or how to get to it. There was no sign but we parked and watched to the cliffs edge and determined that there must be a way to get down there. While I was taking pictures of the view below, Chris, Scott and Elisha found the trail to get down to the beach. It’s definitely more of a local’s beach so we named it Secret Beach. There were people here and there but we had a large patch of it to ourselves. We had forgotten to bring towels from the apartment but as it happened a man selling beach blankets came along and we both thought a good Portuguese beach blanket was exactly the souvenir we needed. We purchased two and spread them out to sit and enjoy the warmth. I remember we had great conversations about parenting. One of the many highlights of the trip.
Once the sun had gone down we climbed up the trail back to our car and decided to try the Pizza place that we had seen the night before. Chris and I over ordered a HUGE pizza - but it was delicious!
