Waterfall at the water garden

22nd September to 3rd October
Parque das Nacoes marina has plenty going for it such as great transport links for sightseeing, quiet and clean walks and gardens and a big supermarket not too far away. Oh and they win my award for best marina showers for being super hot and powerful and staying on for as long as you like without having to keep pressing a button. On the downside they have a problem with silting and we sat a little down in the mud for a few hours every day, poor Emerald we'd promised her no more mud after Essex. The prices are a little lower than other marinas at summer rates, especially with a Cruising Association discount, but they don't have winter rates for short stays so we were keen to leave as soon after 1st October as the weather allowed.

The marina is based within the Expo '98 site. There are gardens to wander; we liked the water gardens with its big waterfall and water based toys such as an archimedes screw. The whole huge Expo site is well looked after with grounds-keepers sweeping and cleaning and no graffiti in sight. There are arenas and pavilions hosting events, lots of cafes and restaurants but many of the small shop units are empty. A big shopping centre has a Continente supermarket, cinema and a higher end set of fashion chain shops. You can even take a cable car ride across the site.

For us, the best on-site attraction was the Oceanarium. I knew they had penguins (I love penguins) and super-cute otters but it was a great surprise to find they also had some puffins. On our trips around the UK we'd tried many times to get up close to the comical birds but never anywhere had we got this near.


Cute


Cuter


Cutest

The main tank surpased our expectations with so many big sea creatures including sharks, rays, barracuda and our favorite, a massive sunfish. So weird looking but beautiful too. We could have sat all day just watching the creatures glide by. We watched the penguins and otters being fed, the otters were funny as one otter got a different food but kept losing it to another that would swoop over and grab it. The keeper used lots of techniques to lure the other away but it still snagged a few off the first otter. When they were given a fish, the otter would start at the tail end, chomping away but then throw the heads away. I'm not keen on fish heads either! After feeding they laid on their backs for a nap, their arms and feet neatly folded in on their bellies. On the floor below there are windows to the tanks so you can see the penguins underwater; so graceful compared to when they are on land. We also watched the otters diving down to find dropped food, their big feet propelling them around. It cost €13 to get in but we felt it was worth it. The Oceanarium also tries to do a good job teaching visitors about the health of the oceans and what they can do to try and protect theme.


Simon the Sunfish