Since Portugal is situated at the southwestern tip of the Iberian Peninsular it boasts hundreds of kilometers coastline. However, due to the partly rocky coast and prevailing western winds (on-shore for most beaches on the west coast), it seems to be not so easy to find suitable windsurf spots. But there are some, partly hidden bays, where you can surf, kite or windsurf. The following report will describe some of those spots, which we visited in March/April 2005 while travelling through the Algarve.

Distance
Germany: aprox. 2500-3000 km. We would recommend to take a plane to `Faro´ and use a rental car. Important: check whether the rental company offers roof rails or not !! Within the Algarve travelling is easy and from the west coast to the Spanish border it will take you about 2-2.5 h (200km) on the cost free motorway.

Overview
For KITE-SURFING we can recommend the eastern end of the
Falesia Beach next to Villamoura. For SURFER one of the best spots is a place called Tonel Beach just next to Sagres. And for WINDSURFER we would recommend the bay Martinhal (a bit north western of Sagres)
and Salema (at the coast on the way from Sagres to Lagos). We would also recommend to take your own material with you, as we have not seen many windsurf rental shops.

Weather
The spring starts already in March and the air temperatures can easily exceed 20° Celsius during this time. The water is of course not as warm as in summer time, but 15° Celsius can be considered as normal.
The Wind comes normally from the west, so that for most spots east to Sagres the wind will blow off-shore. Starting in April/May the wind will be supported by the thermal warming of the coastland and blow a bit more constantly. Sometimes you will also have medium strong eastern winds, especially when there are stormy days in Tarifa (about 600 km to the east in Spain).

Accomodation
It is absolutely no problem to find a place to stay in the Algarve. You will find a wide range of accomodation (price/standard) all over the southern coast.