30 Top Camping Tips For Beginners

Sunshine! – Sines, Portugal (porto covo, porto covo portugal, porto covo review; portugal)

A TripAdvisor™ TripWow video of a travel blog to Porto Covo, Portugal by TravelPod blogger Lymandannabelle.
See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwo…

Sunshine!
"After a five and a half hour drive, we arrived at our next destination; Porto Covo, south of Lisbon and at the gateway of the Algarve. Driving along the coast road, we are immediately welcomed with a long stretch of long beach, consistent beach and warm sunshine; at last weºve got all the key ingredients for a cocktail of fun! We pitch our tent at the local campsite which sits just north of the town and go for an evening stroll. Porto Covo turns out to be a beautifully clean pedestrianised village / town, full of quaint bars and restaurants, surrounded by low traditional white-washed buildings. We swiftly take up residence in a bar called "Tapas Canas Selfbeer", which we learn is the first in Portugal where you can help yourself to the local brew, using a pre-purchased card. (Can't imagine this going unabused in the UK!!) After a couple of rounds, some yummy tapas a Barcelona vs Mallorca (4-2) match on the big screen, we head back to camp and an early night. Naturally, a couple of games of WHOT (yes, Mum and Dad, heºs got addicted!!) (at time of writing, itºs 8-6 to Lym) precursor sleep.

8 Nov
A blowy day. Annabelle attempted to surf at Sao Torpes and hastily retreated, enquiries from the local instructor proclaimed it to be a washing machine. Disappointing, but made up for by the arrival of Annabelleºs friend Toni and her husband and two ever-so-cute girls. An enjoyable afternoon wandering through Porto Covo, spending time on a deserted Praia Grande, which more than made up for the lack of good surf.

9 Nov
We awoke at 7am to a beautiful sunny morning, the wind having dropped.
What a tough Monday morning! 8.30am on the beach, which was 6.30 UK time, just as our alarm clocks wouldºve been going, signalling another week at work. As a creature of habit, entering the waves, Annabelle bows to the god of surf, only this time, as she glanced behind and saw the belching the black factory smoke on the horizon, a couple of miles down the road, she included in this ritual, a prayer to the god of industrial waste. We both practised in white water, which seemed pretty clear and unpolluted and was probably the least hairy and most
mellow surf so far.
Kettle was on for a coffee after an hour of surf and we surveyed the beach, all ours, a stretch of about a km. Sunshine, lovely.
Back at the site during low tide, a beer with lunch and off again.

## A lazy afternoon, alas the wind did not die down so surfing was not on, so we opted for a light camp salad dinner, followed by a stroll in town, the odd Sagres or two and a take away pizza. The latter was served up by a very friendly Dutch lady who along with her partner had sold up in Holland 7 years prior and relocated to Portugal in serach of a more "balanced" lifestyle. Some food for thought there….## 10 Nov
We awoke to yet another blue sky morning (beats blue sky thinking any day of the week!) and Lym having prepared "madam" a breakfast in bed (about the 5th so far this week, thank you my darling…) it was off in search of surf…
Annabelle's looking forward to a 2hr lesson with local surf shop owner and instructor tomorrow, to learn some tricks… Lym doesnºt need instruction in that area, surprise.
**** We felt it would be good to make a recce a few kms south, potentially our next campsite in Vila Nueva de Milfonte. En route, we went to Malhao beach to check out surf there. Nothing spectacular on this particular day, however an amusing sight watching a policeman having his 4×4 pulled off a sand dune which no doubt heºd driven up in search of a bit of fun. On to Vila Nueva … a v pretty town with a coastal inlet, beaches either side. Again, no surf, but a good spot to have a coffee (we carry our camp stove everywhere now). Clearly it was going to be a flat day in terms of surfing., so a good choice to explore new places. We arrived back in Porto Covo mid afternoon and headed for "our beach" which was sundrenched and as ever, deserted. A good time to do some reading, have a brew and catch the rays. We headed back late afternoon and decided a BBQ was in order for the evening. We purchased prawns and a couple of fish steaks and of course more Sagres beer (Annabelle ensures that she hides a 6 pack behind the orange juice in the chiller so that the next day, thereºs always a cold supply) The evening led to several games of WHOT, beers and wonderfully BBQed fish, another lovely day…

11 …"
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Photos from this trip:
1st evening in Porto Covo
Lunch with Toni, Antonio & girls
Girls allowed
Says it