Vilamoura is right in the centre of the Algarve and the Algarve coast is quite beautiful, with its wonderful beaches, exotic shells, gorgeous scenery and vibrantly coloured wild flowers. The sailing is fabulous with almost guaranteed sunshine and with light to moderate offshore winds most of the time. The water temperature is normally ideal for swimming even up until the end of October when it becomes a little bracing!

To the extreme west of the Algarve is Cape St. Vincent, a formidable headland that was considered by the ancient and mediaeval Portuguese to be the western extremity of the world. In the 15th century Prince Henry the Navigator built a castle there and set up a school of navigation. The ruins of the castle remain with an oversized compass rose set in stone in the castle's courtyard.

Cruising along the Algarve coast is beautiful almost beyond words. The coastline to the west of Faro consists of small bays and coves broken up by striking rocky outcrops and amazing grottoes. East of Faro the coast comprises sandy offshore islets, which have created protected anchorages and the most wonderful and un-crowded beaches that stretch for miles.

Faro and Olhao to the East of Vilamoura share an enormous natural harbour containing some open water and many sandbanks and narrow channels, this is an ideal place for pilotage exercises, practising man overboard and picking up of moorings.

Tavira fifteen miles to the east is one of the most beautiful towns in the Algarve. It straddles the palm tree lined river Gilao, which is overlooked by ancient balconied houses. Below them are restaurants specialising in barbecued fish dinners cooked and served on their pavement terraces; the delicious aromas wafting down the street are hard to resist. The harbour is protected by a long sandbank, which gives us a peaceful anchorage from where we can go ashore to visit both the town and the Island of Tavira.

On fourteen-day cruises we also have the time to visit Tangier, Cadiz, Rota, Chipiona and Isla Christina. Tangier on the northwest corner of Africa is something of a culture shock, but a wonderful introduction to Morocco. Cadiz on the west coat of Spain is the oldest inhabited city in Europe. Originally founded by the Phoenicians in biblical times, it is still totally surrounded by a fortified mediaeval stone wall; the town is a maze of beautiful narrow streets, stunning squares and old buildings. Further north, Rota, Chipiona, and Isla Christina are small Spanish towns, with narrow paved streets and attractive whitewashed houses adorned with the most beautiful bougainvillea, hibiscus and other colourful flowers.