ilha da Armona

Someone recommended to my friend that Armona Island is a must-visit destination if we were at Algarve, Portugal. So, with the assistance of a GPS receiver, off we drove to this little town of Olhao from Albufeira. From the port of Olhao, we took a ferry to Armona Island. The island is 15-20 minutes away from Olhao by ferry. It is a popular destination during summer for local and foreign holiday makers. Armona Island is such a small island. When I was there, I did not see a motorised vehicle there. The people here transports basically everything using the push-cart or bicycle. Stepping foot on this island actually gives me a feeling that I indeed coming to a beach instead of an island because I can see the beach sand practically everywhere. The beach houses here are primarily painted with blue and white color and I feel that I am back to Santorini again (with a beach!). We did not have a map of the island when we arrived at this beautiful sandy island. So, we just walked from the jetty to the other end of the island. The walking took us about 30 minutes under the hot sun which almost 'melted' me. Almost towards to the other of the island, I 'gave up' and pulled out my little umbrella to protect me from the scorching sun. We had our lunch there while waiting for next ferry to go back to Olhao.

We had some good time there!

We toured around the market at Olhao while waiting for the ferry to Armona island.


Approaching Armona island. Holiday makers start to go the island for beach vacation.





Jetty of Armona Island. We had our lunch at the restaurant (the only one that's opened that day) at the back of this signboard.


Nice little blue and white beach house.


You practically step onto a beach once you get out of the house.

The other end of the island from the jetty. Great (but hot!) weather. I 'gave up' at this point and pulled out my ever-ready umbrella here. :D

Looking towards the Atlantic ocean. About another 300 meters to the ocean but we made a U-turn at this point because we were melting fast!