Olhos d'Agua Holidays
Olhos d’Agua Holidays – A water baby’s delight
Like many Algarve resorts, Olhos d'Agua began life as a small fishing village and grew. Fortunately, it kept its hospitability along the way, and it is the ideal spot for a holiday where you just relax and let the world go by in a glorious setting.
A holiday in Olhos d’Agua is a splendid family affair, with a superb beach safe for swimming, a myriad of rock pools to keep children happy all day long, and plenty of coves for older ones to explore. If you feel like a break from the beach but don’t want to leave the water, there are fishing and boat trips to let you feel the tang of salt sea air on your face. A curious natural phenomena are the freshwater springs that emerge during low tide.
If you are a devoted water baby but like the adrenaline rush of whizzing down water chutes, you are spoiled for choice, with the water worlds of Slide and Splash, Aqualand, and Zoomarine (which also has a marine park and zoo) all within a short drive of Olhos d’Agua.
When to go
With Olhos d’Agua being very much a family-orientated holiday, you could expect a bustling resort at Easter and from June to early September, when schools are on holiday. (Portuguese schools close for the summer much earlier than those in the UK.) This could be great if you want your children to make friends, but these periods can be crowded.
Most of the main attractions, including the water parks, are open from early April to the end of October, which means you can take full advantage of the beautiful weather on the Algarve and still have a splendid holiday, both lounging on the beach or exploring the area.
Weather in Olhos d’Agua
The weather in the whole of the Algarve is superb, allowing you to take a holiday at any time of the year. June till September have long days of blue skies and glaring sunshine, around eleven or twelve hours a day. From a steamy 26º in June it will peak at the low 30s in July and August, cooling to a glorious 23 in October – still warm enough for shorts and a splash in the sea, with water temperatures of around 20º.
The months either side of high summer are perhaps the loveliest, with temperatures still high but bringing a cool to the evening that can be offset with a light sweater. Evenings chill slightly, but are more comfortable for some people than the sultry nights of summer. There will be a couple of days of slight rain as the season passes into winter.
Getting the best deal
The resort has a good spread of hotels and holiday villages, so you should be well placed to get a good deal out of high season – and the further you can make it out of season the better the deal you will get. This applies equally to flights as to accommodation, but don’t forget that some of the budget airlines restrict the times they fly to popular holiday destinations, usually only flying between March to October.
If you are fixed to dates during school holidays, think about going all inclusive. This can prove very economical, more so than having to pay for every single meal and drink separately, and you could have a big splurge at a fancy restaurant a couple of times during you stay.
Airport and transport need to know
Olhos d’Agua is thirty-eight kilometres from Faro airport, which is about a forty minute drive. You should pay around 35€ (£28) with a metered taxi, but expect a 20% surcharge between 9pm and 6am Monday to Friday, at weekends and national holidays. A fixed price transfer can be booked on-line with one of the many cars and shuttle services that operate out of Faro airport.
There are bus and train services from Faro town to Albufeira, but by the time you get a bus or taxi to the town from the airport, pay the fare, and then get a bus or taxi the six miles from Albufeira to Olhos d’Agua, you would be out of pocket if you were travelling as a family of four. It would have taken twice as long, and it would be very inconvenient humping cases around. Best to book a car and know you will begin your holiday relaxed.
Getting to Faro from the UK is easy, as there are six airlines with routes from twenty-two airports throughout the UK and Ireland.
Best beaches in Olhos d’Agua
Praia dos Olhos d' Água is an attractive beach guarded by golden-red cliffs. Still a fisherman’s beach, it is a treat for the early riser to watch them haul their brightly painted boats out of the water each morning. If you are lucky, at low tide you will see the fresh water bubbling up from springs underneath the sand, which are what gives the beach its name – ‘Eyes of the water’.
This is a beach ideal for children as not only can they enjoy the wonderful sand and splash in the warm sea, they can spend many happy hours investigating the rock pools and tucked-away coves.
A prom runs along the beach, with toilet and access for disabled people, and there are plenty of bars and restaurants for you to take a break from the sand. It is an Accessible Beach, which means that there are facilities for disabled people, including adapted toilets.
Praias Santa Eulalia and Maria Luisa are both large beaches close to Olhos d’Agua and tend to be a bit quieter that Praia Olhos d' Água itself.
Useful links
http://www.algarveuncovered.com/algarve-info/things-to-do.aspx
