Ilha Culatra is a large sand bar island located south of Olhão and Faro. It's part of the Ria Formosa national park which consists of a network of lagoons.

Upon our arrival we felt that we'd been transported back in time as there are no roads, no cars or bicycles, just small houses and sandy streets with the occasional boardwalk and paths of concrete slabs. The only form of transport appeared to be tractors and daily ferries to and from the mainland.



Several hours were spent just walking the miles of golden sandy beaches with its shoreline scattered with shells, walking the boardwalk to yet another beach, paddling in crystal clear waters and wondering around a lagoon that's a haven for Wharram catamarans.


Wharram catamarans in the lagoon


locals digging for clams

Exploring had to be done in the morning preferably before the strong afternoon wind arrived. It was incredible to see how quickly a tranquil anchorage transformed into short and choppy white water resulting in a wet dinghy ride back to Flirtie, guaranteed!

With wind speeds sometimes blowing a Force 6, we wondered if any anchors would drag - one did. We became aware after hearing a couple of short blasts of a fog horn which resulted in many 'heads' popping up and out of companionways. We glanced out to see a catamaran dragging, drifting at (what seemed) a rate of knots. By the time the owner became aware of his situation his anchor had rebedded but he was now far too close to the yacht behind so ended up having to move. After this near incident several yachts put fenders out alongside their hulls for protection against other yachts dragging.

Comparing the anchorage to Portimao, even though local fishing boats zoom past throughout the day and into the evening we found their wash insignificant and didn't cause us to pitch and roll so sleeping wasn't an issue.

As far as we're concerned, the anchorage and Culatra is our little paradise island and we've loved every minute!


last taxi home, hurry up Caroline!