Exploring the Algarve: Part 2 - Urban exploration of abandoned places

Hotel Golfinho 

We came across this hotel purely by chance, although it's pretty hard to miss! Located super close to our favourite beach in Lagos, Dona Ana, we were instantly attracted to this creepy looking building. 

After doing some research on the building we found out it was called 'Hotel Golfinho' which translates to Dolphin hotel. About 20 years ago it was a popular resort for holidaymakers but the recession hit it hard and it had to close.  

It's a HUGE resort with 300 or so rooms, a swimming pool, bar and even a club! We had to climb through a hole in the fencing around the place and walk along a high wall to get down to the ground floor. 

The old logo of the hotel. 

Kids pool in the middle and adult pool on the right. 

The kids pool. 

The outside.

We found a creepy doll on the stairs!! 

Ruins of the old convent da Tridade 

There's not much information on the internet about this place apart from its name and that it was built between 1599 and 1609 and was later damaged in an earthquake. It was then rebuilt as a hospital for the Portuguese Navy but I'm unsure of how it became so rundown after. 

Located in lagos, it was easy to find and easy to get into! (In fact the door was knocked down!). As soon as we got into the building we were flooded by the stink of waste and rubbish and the first room was covered in plastic bags and old food wrappers. 

The entrance

Exploring this place was so exciting but also quite gross and creepy. As we made our way around we found the overgrown courtyard that lead onto some more rooms. I was totally surprised by something I almost trod on, a mummified cat!

People used to mummify their cats for a number of reasons which include:
- Protection of witchcraft (particularly if the cat was found in the walls)
- Sending the beloved pet into the afterlife
- offering the cat as a present to the gods.

Needless to say it gave us the heebeegees! (photo below)

The floor was filled with plastic bags and waste products! 

Mummified cat!!

The courtyard 

We went across the courtyard to the rooms opposite...and that's when I started hearing banging noises. I turned around a saw a door that had warning signs on, such as 'STAY OUT' and some things written in portuguese.  Before I had time to ask Chris if he could hear the banging a man's voice rung through the air shouting 'HEY!!!'. We didn't hang around long enough to hear the rest and legged it as fast as we could!

Chris later mentioned that one of the rooms looked like someone (or something..) had been living there, as there was boxes full of things on the floors. 

So just a caution to anyone wanted to explore this place, beware of the shouting man and mummified cat! 


There are many abandoned places in Portugal, and if your brave enough, you should have a search, although please we aware people may be living in them - and don't go alone or at night!!! 

Another abandoned house - We didn't explore this one as we were still creeped out from the Convent..

Exploring the Algarve. Part 1: The beaches

Me and my partner, Chris, just came back from a lovely week in the Algarve of Portugal. Being a photographer, I was constantly clicking and there was certainly a lot to capture! I wanted to split this blog post into a few sections as it would be long as one! 

The beaches in Algarve are definitely one of my main reasons people come to visit the area. They are filled with golden sand, clear blue sea and stunning rock formations. There are many beaches to visit along the algarve coast and unfortunately we didn't have time to go to them all, but here are the ones we did visit. 

Praia de Dona Ana

We decided that Dona Ana was our favourite beach! It's located a short walk up from Lagos town centre and is easy to get to. The gorgeous rock formations that surrounded the area were one of the reasons we loved this beach so much. 

There's a small hut cafe where you can get a much needed refreshing beer or ice cream! 

The water was a lot colder than I expected!

The rocks make a great place to put the camera on a self timer!

Another reason why Dona Ana is my favourite beach, was because of all the shells! I spent a lot of time searching through them to find some beauties! 

Camilo

A little further up from Praia Dona Ana is Praia Camilo. The best thing about this beach is its rock formations and caves, the worst is its size. It's an incredibly small beach with almost 300 step to get down to it, which is fine going down, but not back up! Although if you do make it back up, there's a restaurant close by that has great reviews. 

Praia da figueria 

This beach is located in Sagres and I think this is the only photo I got of it. We didn't stay too long here as it was a really windy day and we kept getting sand in our eyes! But I can imagine it being lovely on a calm day! 

Praia do Castelejo

Castelejo beach reminds me a lot of a the beaches in Cornwall, with similar rocks and high waves. This is definitely where all the surfers hang out! The drive down to this beach can be quite scary as you drive through the hills on a very thin road. 

Burgau Beach 

We stayed in a lovely villa in the small fishing village of Burgau. Its a gorgeous little village and we were only a 2 min walk from the beach! I can't believe this is the only photograph I took of this beach! This is a long exposure I took at night after many sangrias in the beach hut restaurant.  

So those were the beaches we visited but there are so many more to explore! 

Please keep an eye out for other my other Algarve exploring blog posts which will be posted soon. They include our photos from exploring:

- the activities available (including landmarks and view points)

- Abandoned places (super excited about writing this post and sharing the photos!)  

Becky x