Holidays in Odeceixe – time for a SUP tour!
This year we decided to try the northern west coast of the Algarve region of Portugal for our summer holidays. We rented a nice rural house in Odeceixe, walking distance to the beach of Odeceixe. This house ended up being the perfect spot for some active holidays with the family. On the program we had: biking to Odeceixe Beach, running to Amoreira Beach and doing SUP in Aljezur.
Of course, on SeaBookings blog, we’ll tell you all about the SUP in Aljezur. We joined an afternoon tour which was something new to us as we’re more used to early morning tours. The SUP in Aljezur was a river tour, on the Praia da Amoreira, the perfect setting for a peaceful stand-up paddle tour! We’ve done SUP a few times before, in Lagos, Cascais, Madeira… And this SUP in Aljezur would be the first river-tour. We were very lucky with calm and warm weather.
We met the friendly guides at the car park. We were super curious about how they aim to be the SUP school with the lowest carbon footprint. The guides provide SUP tours to discover the most beautiful and remote beaches, rivers or lakes of the Algarve. Some of these unique spots are Arrifana, Amoreira, Odeceixe and Barragem da Bravura.
Regarding the gear used for the SUP tours, Antoine and Gaylord proudly explained that they use the best eco/tech stand up paddle boards from Starboard and Patagonia wetsuits. These high-quality brands try to be as much environment-aware as they can. Starboard, for example, has a mission to not only to make the best boards in the world, but also the best boards for the world. We learned they do so by using recycled material and EVA. And did you know that they have innovative “Paddle Picks”? You can attach this little accessory made by recycled fishing nets to a paddle to easily pick up floating pieces of trash while you are out for a paddle. Of course, we gave some use to these “Paddle Picks” along the tour to help keep the waterways clean!
After this interesting and passionate introduction, we were ready to hit the water. It was the first time we were taking little Lu of five years old on a SUP tour, so we were all super excited! Lu started the SUP tour on the front of her dad’s board while we were heading river inwards. We were going with the currents so we hardly had to paddle. Of course, the guides warned us that we’d also have to paddle back, so against the current but that they could help if needed.
The scenery of this SUP tour was stunning. I knew that Praia da Amoreira was one of the prettiest beaches in Portugal, but I had never enjoyed it from this perspective. It was a very pleasant ride. While the guides were sharing some of their SUP experiences and stories about life in Aljezur, time flew by! Lu jumped from one board to another and had a blast. Children just love being so close to the sea!
After about 45min of a paddle with the current, it was time to head back and paddle against the current. Me and Xiko like some challenge, so we did not accept the help offered by the guides and had a true full-body workout!
Along the way, we still did some stops to use the Paddle Pick to take some litter and leave no trace, or better, leave the “playground” cleaner than we found it. The main littler we caught was related to fishing activities or beach-goers. Glad we could give back a bit this way!
The tour ended at the same place where we started. We were all exhausted but super satisfied. We still had a nice talk with this dream team while we were putting the gear back in the van. Sandy, Gaylord and Antoine are the ideal guides to take you and explore Aljezur by SUP! Besides a lovely SUP tour, you’ll learn a lot about the region and about sustainability. We’ll be back soon!
