Fishing - Algarve

The Algarve offers a wonderful Selection of Fishing options. Fishing in the Algarve can range from reef fishing to deep sea Shark and Marlin fishing trips. All of the Algarve fishing trips listed here have been tried by our team.  

Due to Portugal's location on a Continental Shelf – which is an underwater land platform that extends to between 50 and 100 Miles in to the Atlantic Ocean - there are a wide variety of fish.

The large predatory fish such as shark and tuna come in to feed on the smaller (bait)  fish that live in the shallower coastal waters. As a result there are hundreds of types of marine fish including sardines, bream, bass, mackerel, blue fish, shark, tuna, sword fish, salmon bass and plaice.

A Fishing Licence is required for all Fishing trips listed. We have only selected companies that can organise a licence for you on the day. It is inexpensive and you just need your passport. 

At Algarve Activities we currently have a selection of the best boats and fishing guides across the Algarve, and we can also help with Cascais and the Lisbon area. If you are a fishing enthusiast then the sea is the place to be in the Algarve, although we can help with some fresh water options too on request.

Portuguese culture and diet have been long connected to the sea and this is still very much in evidence today with beautiful fresh fish avaiable at reasonable prices across the Algarve on a daily basis. The Algarve is a Perfect fishing destination with a long season and lots varied fish opportunities. In Portugal Sea fishing is by far the favourite choice of fishing activity, of these reef fishing, big game fishing and beach fishing all tend to be the most popular with fresh water fishing and cliff fishing also on the list.

Algarve Activities specialise in tailored fishing trips, that is to say that what ever your level or taste we can shape the trip specifically to your needs. Whether a fun family reef fishing trip or a 2 day Marlin fishing expedition we are here to make your dreams come true so just drop us a message and we will do the rest. 

Family fishing is a great way for all the family to relax and enjoy the day out together, kids love fishing and with he high catch rates on the reefs its a faster pace fishing that kids will truly get into. We can offer a tailored "Fun and Fishing" trip for younger families where we stop for swimming and paddle boarding followed by lunch on the beach and an afternoon of fishing to relax.

Portugal is a small country but with over 800km of coastline it offers rich pickings for the fishing community. The meeting of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean serve up a diverse array of up to 200 species of fish to choose from. The influences of the continental shelf and the gulf stream are evident here also and are good news for the big game enthusiasts. Portuguese waters and in particular the Algarve and the Açores are famous as some of Europes top fishing destinations for the adrenaline seeking big game fishermen. Fishing tourism is booming and with the mild climate, great facilities and ultimately the fish themselves we hope to see this industry grow again this year. With Big Game Fishing you can expect to tackle huge Tuna, white and blue Marlin and a variety of Shark to name a few options.

For the Fun Fisherman or beginner why not try a half day Reef Fishing where you have a higher strike rate and a good chance to catch something you can eat at the end of the trip. these half day trips are great fun and the perfect holiday pass time.
Sailing out to sea you will  find bream, sole, grouper and jewfish, heading  further out passing over the continental platform where medium size fish gather and swim in big shoals giving you the opportunity to catch anchovy, mackerel, sea bream, rock bass, conger eel and spurdog.

"The Algarve", derived from the Arabic word al-Gharb, meaning The West, is an area of outstanding beauty on the southern tip of Portugal. It occupies an area of approximately 5000 square Kilometres and has a permanent population of approximately 451000. The population triples in season to a.5million as the holiday home owners take advantage of the hot summer sun. The Algarve also attracts around 7 million visitors a year making tourism by far the biggest industry. 

The municipal capital of the Algarve is Faro and it is also the international gateway boasting a very efficient airport flying to locations throughout Europe. 

The Algarve is Portugals gem stone and people that visit here generally come back time and time again. The Algarve is a very safe holiday destination with very low crime rates and is generally very family friendly. 

The coastline in the Algarve is one of the major draws and the variety from the natural park of the Ria Formosa to the dramatic cliffs and seacaves of the western  Algarve keep p+peopled enchanted time and time again. If you are visiting the Algarve you simply need to do at least one boat trip! We have several recommendations on this website for you and will be glad to advise more. 

Inland the Algarve is also truly stunning with Almonds, Figs, Oranges, Lemons and all kinds of exotic fruits growing in abundance. The best way to get close to the "interior" is on a buggy or a Jeep safari and we have several options listed on the site for you. 

The Portuguese are a very hospitable people and incredibly welcoming, The Algarve in the south of Portugal is an area that generally you will find most people are able to speak English to a very high standard.

Humans have been present in southern Portugal dateing back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. The presence of megalithicstones in the Vila do Bispo area provides us with evidence of this. 

The Cynetes, influenced by Tartessos, were established around the sixth century BC in the Algarve. They would have been strongly influenced by the Celtici.

The Phoenicians established ports of trade along the coast around 1000 BC. The Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis—known now asPortimão—around 550 BC.

The Roman Republic had spread through the Iberian Peninsula in the second century BC and many Roman ruins can still be seen in the region, particularly in Lagos. Roman bath houses and fish salting tanks were discovered near the shore in several locations, particularly the ones near Vilamoura and Praia da Luz.

In the fifth century the Visigoths took control of the Algarve until the beginning of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711. when the Moors conquered Lagos in 716, it was named Zawaia.

Faro, which the Christian residents had called Santa Maria, was renamed Faraon, which means "settlement of the knights." This was on account of the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula,  For several years, the town of Silves was the regional capital.

In the mid-13th century, during the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Portugal conquered the region in a series of successful military campaigns against the Moors. Al-Gharb became the Kingdom of the Algarve, but battles with Muslim forces persisted. It was not until the early 14th century that the Portuguese finally secured the region against the subsequent Muslim attempts to recapture the area. King Afonso III of Portugal started calling himself King of Portugal and the Algarve. After 1471, with the conquest of several territories in the Maghreb - the area considered an extension of the Algarve - Afonso V of Portugal began fashioning himself "King of Portugal and the Algarve", referring to the European and African possessions.

Prior to the independence of Brazil, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (1815–1822) was an official designation for Portugal which also alluded to the Algarve. Portuguese monarchs continued used this title until the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910. Between 1595 and 1808, the Algarve was a semi-autonomous area of Portugal with its own governor, as well as a separate taxation system.[verification needed].

In the 15th century, Prince Henry the Navigator located himself near Lagos and conducted various expeditions which established the colonies which combined comprised the Portuguese Empire. It was also from Lagos that Gil Eanes set sail in 1434 to become the first seafarer to roundCape Bojador in West Africa. The voyages of discovery brought Lagos fame and fortune. Trade flourished, the local economy boomed,  and Lagos became the capital of the historical province of Algarve in 1577 and remained so until the year of the terrible  Lisbon earthquake in 1755. The earthquake damaged many areas in the Algarve and a tsunami destroyed or damaged coastal fortresses, while coastal towns and villages were heavily damaged with the exception of Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa lagoon. In Lagos, the waves reached to the top of the city walls. For many Portuguese coastal regions, including the Algarve, the destructive effects of the tsunami were more disastrous than those of the actual earthquake.

In 1807, while Jean-Andoche Junot led the first Napoleonic invasion in the north of Portugal, the Algarve was occupied by Spanish troops. Starting in 1808, and after many subsequent battles in various towns and villages, the region was the first to drive out the Spanish occupiers.

The establishment first Portuguese Republic in 1910 marked the end of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarve and the begining of what we see today.