Hi there,
In today’s post I am going to tell you about the paddle boarding routes we did in the summer of 2024.
While last year we were already doing routes in May, this year we started very late, practically at the end of July.
Here is the first part of this post:
Ribera do Abade to Marina da Afurada
We had been wanting to do this route for a long time because we wanted to take the typical photo of Porto, but from the river.
The previous Sunday we did the route until halfway, and the noise was infernal: the motorcycles, the cars, the boats.
The following Sunday we were already entering the water at 7AM to try to finish the route before the noise started. We left from the beach in Ribera do Abade, which is the closest to our house.
The way to the Luis I Bridge was fast because we had the current and the wind in our favor.
From here the water was choppier and the current was against us.
We took the pictures we had wanted to take since we moved to Porto and Diego’s came out much better than mine.
We followed the route and after the most photogenic part of Porto, we began to see that there was fog. From having great sunshine, we went to having it all gray.
We arrived at the marina that is before the Reserva Natural Local do Estuário do Douro.
Lugar de Pombal
We arrived around 7:30AM and everything was covered in fog. The beginning of the route was magical.
The ride was quiet until we reached the Medas Campground, where there were already people on jet skis.
We entered the Inha River to see what it was like there and turned around.
When we returned without fog, we realized that the point where we had started was horrible and super dirty; so we will not come back.
Melres river beach
We didn’t have many new options left in Porto that were close by. Since we didn’t feel like going all the way to Peneda Gerês, we went to Melres and parked at a river beach that is almost in front of Praia da Lomba.
At 8:30Am people were already starting to arrive en masse.
The ride was pleasant despite the noise of the motorcycles (something inevitable in Porto).
The last 20 minutes of the ride were terrifying because of the scandal from Praia da Lomba to the beach where we had started: people screaming, music, jet skis, boats, and even a group of a sect chanting and baptizing people in the river. A Dantesque spectacle.
That day I decided not to go paddle boarding again until mid-September.
Here is also the paddle boarding route we did in Peneda Gerês:
Below are the links to my YouTube channel: