Travelling east from Faro brings you to the port of Olhão, one of the few working ports of the Algarve. Its fish market is the best in the Algarve and one of the most animated and picturesque, with an enormous variety of seafood but also local farmers selling such products as fruit, honey and live chickens. It was here that the first canning factory for tuna and sardines was established back in 1882.

The town has a simliar character to Faro, but on a smaller scale, and is well known for its old quarter where the Moorish influence can be seen in the flat roofs and box shaped chimneys.

Fuzeta and Armona are the islands situated close to Olhão and are quickly reached by boats that make regular trips, specially during summer.

They are long bars of fine sand and warm waters which offer both peace and quiet, in the less visited zones, and more exciting water activities: canoeing, windsurf, sailing and diving are backed by excellent local services.

Lying witihin the limits of the Natural Park of Ria Formosa, these islands offer the best natural conditions to practice such activities, and Olhão is therefore one of the most visited towns of the Algarve by lovers of water sports.

Close to Olhão is the Ria Formosa Natural Park - a huge lagoon comprising salt marshes, five narrow sandy islands and a myriad of channels. It is the perfect home for a multitude of birds and marine life, and also boasts some popular beaches. This natural reserve stretches along 40 miles of coastland.

Inland from Olhão, just 3 miles, is the pretty hill village of Moncarapacho which boasts the Church of Santo Cristo with a beautiful doorway and painted arches. Next to the Chapel, the Museu Paroquial owes much to the efforts made by father Isidoro Domingos da Silva, who collected items representative of the local ethnography. It also displays important archaeological findings and a religious collection from the 16th to the 18th Century