Due to the success of yesterday’s early start, we set off early again today. The stage is about 5 km longer, but luckily, the first stretch follows a paved road—no ankle-deep sand to slow us down. It’s a smooth walk all the way to the small fishing harbor of Portinho da Entrada da Barca, where the day’s real adventure begins.

From the little fishing port, the road climbs steeply along the cliffs—and suddenly, right in front of us, we spot storks nesting high above the ocean. It’s said to be the only place in Europe, or maybe even the world, where storks build their nests on sea cliffs. A quick snack break with a view, and we continue toward Almograve.

The next few kilometers take us inland, away from the cliffs—a welcome change as the sun begins to rise and the day warms up. A shaded path leads us through a tunnel of trees, offering relief from the heat. On the edge of this miniature forest, we come across blooming prickly pear. I’ve seen the plant many times, but I think this is the first time I’ve actually seen it in flower. The fruit isn’t ripe yet, but we definitely wouldn’t say no if it were.

As we walk, our conversation drifts to Jan’s favorite topic—Minecraft. He’s building a quiz-based world in the game, so we come up with new questions together as we go. Like many adults I know, I’ve always found Minecraft kind of absurd—how can a game that looks like digital Lego be so popular in an era of hyper-realistic graphics? But the gameplay must be brilliant. Jan is especially annoyed about the new Minecraft movie, which he insists completely misses the spirit of the game.

Talking about games, creativity, and all the strange things kids think about, we eventually arrive at the impressive Farol do Cabo Sardão lighthouse.

Just past the lighthouse, the trail heads inland again. We’ve had enough of that, so we take a shortcut along the coast and finally descend to the stunning Praia da Carraca beach.

The southwestern coast of Portugal, which the Fisherman’s Trail follows, is not only breathtaking to look at but also geologically fascinating. It’s mainly composed of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks like slate and sandstone, formed over 300 million years ago during the Hercynian orogeny. Over time, tectonic forces tilted, fractured, and lifted these layers above sea level, creating dramatic cliffs and striking, wavy rock formations. Praia da Carraca is no exception—massive chunks of rock worn down by erosion lie scattered and carved into the soft sands.

Along the coast, you can also spot other remarkable features carved by the sea, such as caves, natural arches, and isolated rock towers. This unique geology shapes the wild character of the landscape and provides a home for many specialized plants and animals adapted to these harsh, extreme conditions.

After spending an hour or two on the beach, the trail leads us through a pine forest—a welcome change of scenery. However, the sand here grows deeper, and as we approach the last few kilometers of today’s route, our pace slows and we start feeling a bit tired.

I think I owe a small apology to the local flora, which I haven’t truly appreciated until now. I’m no botanist—plants usually catch my attention only if they look particularly strange or beautiful (my wife Teresa is the real expert in the family). But walking this trail, it’s hard not to notice just how many unique and fascinating plants we pass every single day. In fact, I’d say we often overlook them completely. Yet their subtle fragrance, mixing with the salty ocean air, is something I’ll probably remember long after the trek is over.

This stretch of the Portuguese coast is considered one of the most botanically rich regions in the country. More than 750 plant species grow here, and many of them are found nowhere else in the world. Some are truly endemic—like Cistus palhinhae, a low shrub with delicate white flowers that grows only in a narrow strip between Zambujeira do Mar and Porto Covo. Or Plantago almogravensis, which hides quietly in the sandy soil near Almograve. It’s easy to walk past without noticing it, yet it’s one of the rarest plants in Portugal.

One that really caught my eye was sea lavender (Limonium), growing directly from cracks in the seaside cliffs. It stands there quietly, defying wind and sea spray—a small but perfect reminder of how life adapts to even the harshest places.

After our little botanical detour, it’s time to return to today’s route. Luckily, we have only about 14 kilometers ahead of us—Jan is starting to feel some pain in his knees, so a shorter day is welcome. Our main motivation is the long stretch of Praia do Brejo Largo, a beach we visited last year with the whole family. With that memory in mind, we pick up the pace. Soon enough, we’re descending to the soft but wave-compacted sand, using a rope for the final drop. It’s early in the morning, and we have the entire beach to ourselves.

In fact, we hardly meet anyone all morning. We’re hiking the trail in the opposite direction than most, and I was told that in this orientation the sun stays mostly on your back, which has proven to be excellent advice. We spend at least an hour relaxing on the beach again—it’s always hard to leave, but this is a trek, after all, so back to the cliffs we go.

A short while later, we come across a strange, almost surreal place marked on the map as Casa do Vagabundo. I couldn’t find much information about it, but honestly, it looks like something out of a Tim Burton film. An abandoned house, probably once squatted, with its interior walls covered in wild, psychedelic murals. The whole place feels like it sprang from someone’s fever dream—or a bad trip. Walking through it, you half expect to stumble upon a body.

After a few more kilometers, the trail brings us back to the beach once more, and as we near the end of the day’s stage, we cut the final stretch short by hopping on a small ferry across the Rio Mira. The ride is a charming way to end the day, and tickets cost 5 EUR for adults and 2 EUR for children under 11.

The last day of our trek promised long stretches ahead—almost 20 kilometers, mostly through deep sand. On top of that, we needed to get back to our car parked in Odeceixe by evening, which meant another 4 – 5 kilometers after reaching the bus stop in Porto Covo.

We leave the city on a small dirt road. The corn in the surrounding fields has already been cut and it is a pleasant walk to the parking lot at Porto das Barcas. You can actually get there by car, I even read somewhere that it was recommended, but we don’t have a car here, so …

Following are another few kilometers of beautiful scenery, as if today’s last day on the trek wants to say goodbye to us. This time, a small path in the sand leads right to the edge of rock formations, keeping us high above the sea. The first few kilometers really seem to flow by until we reach Praia da Angra da Barreta beach and a whole series of other beaches as we approach Porto Covo. Although we have learned from the official race, the feeling of the ocean washing your feet on the trek is worth violating trekking ethics. After all, the trek is not our primary concern. We mainly want to enjoy it here. We return to the route somewhere near Praia do Queimado beach and I could probably only recommend it to everyone. Once the individual beaches changed, the flat tongues of sandy beaches were replaced by an ankle-strengthening terrain of large pebble stones. Above the next beach, huge pieces of eroded sandstone hung, creating such picturesque formations that we preferred to stay away from them. Later we had to use our hands, huge pieces of stones were trying to straighten the already beautiful end of our trek. And we also passed a number of nudist areas, where my son and I got very involved in conversation so that we didn’t have to look to the right or left. Finally, we saw surfers looking for the famous spots.

We didn’t even realize it on the beach, but it started to get hellishly hot. The few kilometers from the beach to the bunker at the Capela de Santo Alberto chapel were a bit of a challenge for us, so we had a lemonade at the bar and bought a bottle of water.

The bunker at Capela de Santo Alberto is part of an extensive system of defensive fortifications that were built during the q in Portugal in the mid-20th century. This system, known as the Linha de Costa (Coastal Line), was built to protect the Portuguese coast from possible invasion during World War II and the Cold War. Although it was never used in combat, today it is part of the historical military infrastructure and similar bunkers can often be found near strategic locations along the coast.

We still have a lot of time until the bus leaves from Porto Covo towards Odeceixe. So we choose one that we visited with our whole family a year ago and is actually in close proximity to Porto Covo – Praia Selvagem. You could say that our journey ends here. In Porto Covo we had delicious ice cream at Prime Ice Cream Buffet, bought a few small souvenirs and got on the Rede Express bus at 8 pm. I am also extremely grateful to my son, who proved to be a great fighter, for the entire problem-free process.