If you’re planning a trip to the Algarve in the future, we’d like to draw your attention to Ria Formosa Natural Park, hopefully doing justice to this spectacular nature park. This beautiful lagoon is bursting with animal life, making Ria Formosa one of the best spots in Portugal to get your dose of wildlife, water, and adventure. Here at Lands, we specialise in eco-friendly, solar-powered boat tours, all led by local biologists with a passion for animals and conservation. If you’re spending a few days in the Algarve and you’re looking for things to do, we hope you’ll consider Ria Formosa Nature Park!
The Algarve has no shortage of beautiful beaches, decadent golf courses, and charming seaside towns. The sunny weather, idyllic setting, and friendly locals have cemented the Algarve as the most popular tourist area in Portugal. But, despite the numbers, Ria Formosa remains somewhat of a hidden gem. While most head to Faro for fun in the sun, a rich experience immersed in nature is just a short drive away!
If you like to get hands on and you’re looking for a mini adventure, then you can go sea kayaking in Ria Formosa. This is the perfect family activity as you head out for a relaxed, leisurely paddle along the tranquil waters of Ria Formosa. Just being out in the water is special, but you will also learn about the nature park — about its history and about the incredible animal life found here. In particular, you’ll get a glimpse of the staggeringly diverse birdlife found in the lagoon, but that topic deserves a section all to itself!
With over 250 species of birds living or visiting the Algarve each year, Southern Portugal is, by far, the best place in the country for birdwatchers. And within the Algarve, Ria Formosa’s rich conservation area is a paradise for birdlife as its rich land and lagoon serves as the perfect stopover point for birds travelling between Europe and Africa.
A great habitat for birds makes for a great travel destination for ornithologists or just anyone who loves seeing birds out in their natural habitat. With over 200 species of birds in Ria Formosa, we can’t possibly list them all here, so you’ll have to book your spot on our birdwatching tour of Ria Formosa or our birdwatching boat tour of Ria Formosa.
While for many it’s best to get out on the water in this beautiful lagoon, there is plenty to see and explore by foot. Bird watching is one of the main reasons people walk through Ria Formosa, but others simply want to enjoy the numerous beautiful paths and seaside views. Taking a walking tour of Ria Formosa offers a completely different experience from touring the area by boat or kayak and we highly recommend it. This is a 3-hour tour but it’s fairly gentle, so a high level of fitness is not required.
Anyone who has spent longer than five minutes in Ria Formosa can recognise how valuable this unique nature park is, and Lands has spent almost two decades here. We have explored its waterways by boat and walked its banks and its pathways — showing guests just how special Ria Formosa is at every step (or paddle) of the way. This is why conservation is very important to us; in fact, it’s at the core of who we were from day one. We believe that Ria Formosa is the most valuable natural habitat in the entire Algarve, so we go to great lengths to protect it.
We’ve taken great care to invest in the best possible boats that make zero environmental impact. Instead of choosing motorboats for our tours, we opted for solar-powered boats that do not consume fossil fuels (Zero Fossil Fuel) and do not produce greenhouse gases (Zero CO2 emissions). Their electric motors do not spill oil or generate exhaust fumes (Zero hydrocarbons dumped in the water).
We hope we’ve inspired a few people to visit Ria Formosa Natural Park in the near future. Walking, paddling, or sailing through this stunning park is one of the best ways to spend a day (or at least a few hours) in the Algarve.
If you have any follow-up questions for us, please feel free to reach out below…
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