All Kinds of Glass

Blue Tranquil Sea

Discover the Blue Coast of Portugal

One of the most valuable assets of the Costa Azul (or Blue Coast) lies in nature. The 60,000 hectares of protected areas governed by regulations and special protection measures constitute the very best that nature has to offer and mankind has been able to preserve.

Tagus, the Caparica Fossil Cliffs, Arrabida, Sado; Santo Andre, and Sancha Lagoons and Southwest Alentejan Coast are names that reflect the best of our landscape and the best preserved areas of our environment.

The Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve with it Setubal estuarine waters, mud-flats and fens, salterns, islets and farm land has a population of 80,000 birds in Winter and is truly a sanctuary for the rarer species of Europe.

Close by the 13 kilometres of beaches is an area of huge environ mental value, which is, at one and the same time, a leisure and entertainment area.

The Caparica Fossil Cliffs Protected Landscape is a geological formation of great beauty surrounded by characteristic flora and fauna.
The Arrabida Natural Park is the natural link between Sesimbra, Palmela and Setubal, and it constitutes the meeting point of the green and majestic hills and the ocean, blue and indented, that lies beyond the cliffs, the small inaccessible beaches and the modest stretches of dunes.

The Sado Estuary is an area abundant in life and it is a point of encounter of river and ocean that has allowed channels, creeks and mud-flats to Costa de Caparica fossil cliffs, become home both to mammals such as the otter; the badger and the fox; and to about a hundred species of birds including the white stork, the marsh harrier and the heron.

The Santo Andre and Sancha Lagoons Nature Reserve embraces two coastal lagoons and a system of small freshwater lakes formed in depressions among the dunes. The Reserve also covers a marine strip with a sandy substrate.

The Southwest Alentejan and St Vincent Coast Nature Park is ideal for a journey along the western coastline of southern Portugal. Beaches, cliffs, well-preserved villages, Roman traces, a chapel dating from the fifteen-hundreds and an Atlantic Ocean as far as the eye can see.

The dolphin, the symbol of the Costa Azul; is an illustrious species often seen in the Sado and the perfect host of a world in which nature constitutes both a surprise and a discovery.

In the Costa Azul, a time for beach and coast. Costa da Caparica, Melides, Carvalhal and Troia affirm boundless space, sand stretching out beyond the horizon.

Portinho da Arrabida and Porto Covo reveal the intimist scale of the small beach. Sesimbra bears witness to the Portuguese way of living the sea and shows the traditional fishing.
In Costa Azul the Atlantic is the maker of beaches. Huge beaches where the dunes meet the sea. Discrete beaches at the meeting of hill and ocean. In the South the sun.

The sea, blue and vast, and the peaceful virgin sand. These qualities lead us to extend an invitation: dream of a summer on the Costa Azul. On the Costa Azul, the sea and the river.

The Atlantic Ocean, the river of typical craft and discrete distances. Inland, the dams form their plains of water. Yachting, windsurf, water-ski, canoeing, rowing, surf, bodyboard, motor-boating, diving and angling fill the Costa Azul with activity and colour. Boat clubs, underwater activity centres and marine tourism companies provide the ever necessary support.

Typical craft of the river Tagus and the Galeoes (old salt wherries) of the river Sado provide trips through tradition and history. Boat trips invariably provide a promise of surprises, bedazzlement and dolphins. Dolphins that are the symbol of sea and nature in the Costa Azul. A year of adventure and discovery in the seas of the Costa Azul.

Museums, archaeology and monuments take you on a trip though the rich past of the Costa Azul. At the very bottom of history traces of the Neolithic, of the Chalcolithic and of the Iron Age reveal the very beginnings of the human adventure, mankind's initial gestures and the challenge of survival.

Roman presence has left throughout the entire geography of the Costa Azul important remains that include activities and facilities of an industrial nature, spas, shrines and a hippodrome.

History and the passage of time have left the Costa Azul with a remarkable trail or mediaeval castles, renaissance palaces, manor houses, churches, chapels, convents and shrines that invite you to make an appointment with a representation of the world of those days.
Our museums also provide another vision of our way of life down the centuries.

In every municipality, museums, reflecting complementary ways and realities, reveal our collective memories and display visions of art, traditional crafts, ethnography, habits, celebrations and moments that history has kept and the future wants to preserve.

In the Costa Azul, history and heritage are a constant feature. The possibilities and encounters with the heritage are to be found in every city, in every village, in each comer of the region. In the Costa Azul, a place with a history and a time with memory.

The culture of a people is the memory that every day is built up and experienced at festivals, fairs and feasts, at displays of culture and handicrafts, at the bull-fight.

The Costa Azul is rich and diverse in events that are organised yearly, a calendar of encounters with tradition, religious sentiment, a liking for festivity and celebration, the display of that which makes us unique, the construction of our identity.

Whatever the month or the time of year in the Costa Azul some event is always taking place, some celebration will be a cause for festivity. In every municipality, from the South where the coast and the plains come together to the Tagus, a world of happenings is waiting for you, the culture of our people still and forever to be remembered and continued.

In addition to the sea the Costa Azul has a rural, inland world where everything is softness, peace and. tranquillity .The relief is itself an invitation to the horizon where cork oaks and evergreen oaks rise up towards an intense blue and to a light of permanent Summer.

The typical houses of the Alentejo mark the presence of mankind and are gendy revealed as though glued to the landscape. The towns and villages are white, the houses gathered together in exemplary harmony, the casdes vigilant and haughty.

Tradition is not just a memory but is alive and is a part of today's world. Food that tastes of the land and handicrafts that maintain techniques and transform materials are a constant feature that is not to be lost. On the Costa Azul, the plain travels along vine-covered ground that flows to the sea.

The Costa Azul with its southness, its plains, its blue lagoons, its historic centres that constitute a heritage of great wealth. Traditions, savours, arts and crafts recalling pleasures of old.

About the Author

Alentejo Home is the Real Estate specialist in the Alentejo region of Portugal between Lisbon and the Algarve. Find out how we can make your dream come true at Alentejo Home Real Estate

Enjoy The Tranquil Waters Of Playa Del Carmen

Playa del Carmen is a peaceful city found right on the edge of the Caribbean Sea. There are several hotels there that are meant to help the guests enjoy their time in the sand and the surf.

On the border of the Caribbean Sea is a city called Playa del Carmen. Found at the north east side of Mexico, part of the state of Quintana Roo, the city is a haven of clean water, fine sand and picturesque shores. It has become known as a small and quaint city where travelers can frolic in the sea. Because of this, there are a number of hotels in the city for travelers who want to remain close to the sea.

Less than two miles from Playa del Carmen, the Iberostar Quetzal hotel stands on the fine sand of Playacar. Travelers coming in from a flight will take 50 minutes to get to the hotel from the International Airport of Cancun. The 700 rooms and suites of the Iberostar are split evenly between the Hotel Iberostar Tucan and the Hotel Iberostar Quetzal. The hotel is designed to merge with the lush surroundings of verdant green trees and the blue of the sky and ocean.

The grounds of the Iberostar Quetzal are filled with amenities and facilities that were designed to keep tourists busy and happy. The hotel is surrounded with lush gardens filled with tropical foliage. A lobby with a bar dominates the reception area, while a lounge bar, main restaurant and specialty restaurants are also found in the vicinity. Within the pool area, there is a separate kiddie pool, a pool for adults with a swim-up bar, a lagoon and an activities pool. Lounge chairs, beach towels and umbrellas surround the pool area. The hotel also features a nightclub and entertainment center, various shops and a beach club with a restaurant. Guests can also avail of Internet access and room service from 11am to 11pm.

Guests can engage in several sporting activities within the Iberostar Quetzal like billiards, aerobics, catamaran-sailing, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, windsurfing and group exercise classes. They can also use the steam bath and Jacuzzi that are adjacent to the fitness room. Trained instructors also offer scuba tutorials.

Seven minutes from downtown Playa del Carmen, one can find the all-inclusive resort called The Royal Hideaway Playacar. Situated right in the heart of Playacar, and about 45 minutes from the Cancun International Airport, the hotel has a prime spot due to it proximity to Quinta Avenida, or Fifth Avenue, the hub of Playa del Carmen's social life.

Built in 1998, the hotel has 200 rooms and suites and 3 floors. The Royal Hideaway Playacar offers free wireless Internet connection, 24 hour room service and nightly entertainment. Guests who want to play water sports will surely love the resorts various options like kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, water polo, snorkeling, boogie board and aqua aerobics. There are also facilities that can accommodate other sports, the compound is equipped with a tennis court a basketball court and a fitness center. Board games, card games, beach soccer and bicycling are also allowed and encouraged within the premises.

The Royal Hideaway Playacar offers and all-inclusive program that includes all the major amenities offered by the hotel such as champagne, all meals and snacks, tennis lessons, daily activities programs by the beach, unlimited natural juices, soft drinks and premium alcoholic beverages and three swimming pools and three relaxation pools.

Other hotels found on the beach of Playa del Carmen are the All Riviera Resort, Costa del Mar, Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort, Occidental allegro Playacar, Playa Palms, Riu Palace Mexico, Viva Wyndham Maya and the Blue Parrot Suites.

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