Ria de Alvor

Between Portimão and Lagos the Alvor estuary forms a wide and complex estuarine system, to which they drain Odeáxere and Aaron streams to the west, and the Odeáxere streams Bran and Tower to the east, originating in the Serras de Monchique and Espinhaço de Cão. The lagoon area is separated and protected from the sea by two tongues of sand, Praia da Alvor to the east and Meia-Praia to the west, surrounding two promontories, the Quinta da Rocha and Abicada. In summer the bee-eater and the different swallows show their beauty and agility. The diversity of habitats in a relatively small area - around 1700 hectares - provide the observation of a great diversity of typical birds estuaries and marshes, sea birds and birds associated with agricultural fields.