Casa Flor de Sal

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Ria Formosa

The Ria Formosa Nature Reserve stretches along about half of the eastern Algarve coast, from Faro to Manta Rota - 60 km in total - and covers an area of over 18,400 hectares (44,000 acres).

The outer boundary and protection of the Reserve is formed by a line of sand dune islands (Barreta, Culatra, Armona and Tavira) and the peninsulas of Anção to the west and of Cacela to the east. Behind these are the vast expanses of dunes and after those a labyrinth of lagoons and small sand isles, mud flats and canals.  At low tide the salt marches are also uncovered.

Ria Formosa has an enormous variety of natural habitats and biotopes that provide refuge, feeding or breeding areas for an infinite number of organisms, from zooplankton to fish, crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles, birds and some mammals, such as the otter.

Ria Formosa Nature Reserve is of particular importance to bird life: as a breeding ground for many species, as a wintering ground for many birds from northern Europe, as a resting and feeding station for birds migrating between Africa and Europe, and as a habitat for several species threatened elsewhere in Europe.

The common caiman or the sultan chicken are simultaneously one of the most representative and most endangered inhabitants of Ria Formosa. The sultan chicken is a large bird with bluish feathers and bright red feet and beak. It is very rare and it is estimated that the population does not exceed twenty breeding pairs. Other birds such as the dwarf sea swallow, the grey plover, the tailor bird, the waders, the common hawthorn, the straight beaked kingfisher, ducks, water cocks and some birds of prey such as the hunting kestrel also visit this protected zone.

50 species of fish (including sea-horses), little known crustaceans (Monte Gordo shrimp, estuary shrimp, moorish crab), bivalve molluscs (white and pointed cockles, mussels and other shellfish); amphibians (common toad and frog), reptiles (woodland lizard, gecko, water snakes and chameleon) and insects (butterflies, bees, dragoonflies and other) are also living in the Park. You can hear and see several of these while you seat in our gardens. If you look carefully you might see the lizards and chameleons that live at Casa Flor de Sal.

The flora varies from the sandy zones (armenias, sea thistles, sand cactuses) to the marches where the existence of some species depends on their resistance to submersion by seawater. Of this immense variety, the Algarve limonium, which constitutes a local endemic species, is particularly important.

You will probably get the best view of Ria Formosa when your plane prepares to land at Faro airport (sit on the right-hand side of the plane). From the air, it is a stunning patchwork of green islets, blue lagoons and white beaches. The beaches are fantastic both for bathers in the summer and for walkers in the winter. The salt marshes and tidal flats will thrill bird watchers. For nature lovers, artists, photographers and those curious about local life, the park has much to offer.

You can visit Ria Formosa Nature Reserve simply by going for walks, bike rides or swimmining outside Casa Flor de Sal. Otherwise you can have very good views of the Reserve by going on ferry trips that depart from Faro or Olhão to the islands. Another option is to access the edge of the lagoon by exploring down many small roads between Faro and Manto Rota.

Just east of Olhão (head for the camp site), there is a visitor centre where you can see the only restored tidal mill in the area.