I grew up in Portugal and one of my fondest memories is escaping the crowded beaches around Lagos and heading inland to Bravura. The summer months bring thousands of tourists to the coastal areas of the Algarve, desperate for sunshine and a chance to sample the local cuisine and culture. For those who cannot stand a packed beach and want a place to swim where you aren't diving to avoid over-enthusiastic children on their boogey boards, I suggest taking the drive up to the reservoir. Once there you are presented with quite literally a plethora of dirt roads leading into the unknown but which invariably end up taking you to some deserted cove that for a day you can claim as your own. During the summer months the waters catch the light and are often a vivid green. You can swim to your heart's content surrounded by Eucalyptus forest and the smell of the local 'sticky bush'. You won't hear cars or shouting but instead the occasional splash of a black bass or carp playing in the shallows. Once you have satiated your desire for seclusion you can continue along the mountain roads all the way to Monchique, the extinct volcano and eat piri-piri chicken in one of the many restaurants and watch the sun drop over the horizon.

Approx 15-40 minute drive from Lagos depending on the time of day and how lost you want to get.
It is sign posted although once of the main roads you are on your own.

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