Leg 9 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Sagres to Culatra
East along the Algarve past Lagos, Portimão and the sea caves of Benagil, then in through the Barra de Faro-Olhão to anchor in the Ria Formosa lagoon off Culatra, a car-free island village.
07:30 WEST from Sagres. 45 minutes after sunrise (06:47 WEST), timed to reach the bar on the flood.
Arrive
About 17:06 WEST at Culatra. On the flood into the Ria Formosa, about 2 hours 30 minutes before high water, with about 3 hours 10 minutes of daylight in hand.
Tides
7 days after the full moon, toward neaps: range about 1.6 m
Wind
North-west to west, or a south-westerly sea breeze in the afternoon
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2
Track and waypoints 1 to 7, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 09:00 WEST. Go only if all of these hold:
Wind force 5 or less, and no strong southerly or south-westerly: the Faro-Olhão bar faces south.
Swell under 2 m from the south-west.
Faro-Olhão bar open (no signal at the moles; status on marinha.pt).
Visibility 2 nm or more.
If the bar is in doubt, plan Vilamoura as the night stop instead (marina, 4 m entrance) and go to Culatra the next day, which is the weather day held there.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Baleeira, Sagres
37°00.6′N
008°55.5′W
07:30 WEST
Weigh anchor.
1
Baleeira approach
36°59.6′N
008°54.8′W
151°T
1.1
1.1
07:47 WEST
Out of the bay.
2
Off Ponta da Piedade
37°03.6′N
008°40.0′W
071°T
12.5
13.6
09:52 WEST
1.2 nm south of the point and its sea stacks.
3
Off Portimão
37°04.6′N
008°31.0′W
082°T
7.3
20.9
11:05 WEST
1.7 nm south of Ponta do Altar. Ships use the Arade channel.
4
Off Benagil
37°03.8′N
008°25.5′W
100°T
4.5
25.3
11:49 WEST
Outside the cave zone, which runs 500 m off the cliffs. Look from here.
5
Off Albufeira
37°03.0′N
008°15.0′W
095°T
8.4
33.8
13:13 WEST
2 nm off.
6
Off Vilamoura
37°02.5′N
008°07.0′W
094°T
6.4
40.2
14:18 WEST
2 nm off the marina entrance, the main refuge on this leg.
7
Faro-Olhão bar approach
36°57.3′N
007°52.3′W
114°T
12.8
53.0
16:26 WEST
South of the moles. Look at the signals. Call Faro on VHF 14. Check on the chart
8
Culatra anchorage
36°59.6′N
007°50.6′W
031°T
2.7
55.7
17:06 WEST
Inside the lagoon, west of the village and outside the seahorse refuge. Anchoring rules: see Hazards. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Sagres · Tue 27 Apr · WEST (UTC+1)
LW
00:55
1.2 m
HW
07:14
2.4 m
LW
12:59
1.4 m
HW
19:31
2.6 m
From the Lagos Algarve station.
Culatra · Tue 27 Apr · WEST (UTC+1)
LW
00:55
1.2 m
HW
07:14
2.4 m
LW
12:59
1.4 m
HW
19:31
2.6 m
From the Lagos Algarve station.
Tuesday 27 April 2027, 7 days after the full moon and the day before the last quarter: toward neaps, range about 1.6 m.
Entering on the flood. Low water is at about 12:59 WEST and high water at about 19:31 WEST. Arriving at about 17:05, the flood is running in with you through the bar, and the water is rising. Streams in the Ria Formosa channels are strong at the bars, and strongest at springs; at neaps they are weaker, which is one reason this leg sits here.
Culatra has no station in the TICON-4 set, so its times are from Lagos, 30 nm west. The Huelva station, 50 nm east, gives times within 5 minutes of Lagos, so the tide along this coast is close to simultaneous. Check the pilot book
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Sagres 06:47 WEST. Sunset at Culatra 20:16 WEST.
Weather
The Algarve. Sheltered from the north. Afternoon sea breezes from the south-west build in fine weather.
The bar. A south or south-west wind against the ebb makes the Faro-Olhão bar rough. Entering on the flood avoids that.
Forecasts to check
IPMA (Portugal) maritime bulletins and coastal warnings, ipma.pt, maritime section. The high-seas area for this coast is 17 Porto.
NAVTEX Portugal (Monsanto): 518 kHz, station R, in English; 490 kHz, station G, in Portuguese. Check the station letters and broadcast times against the Admiralty List of Radio Signals. Check the pilot book
Bar status: Autoridade Marítima Nacional, “Estado das barras”, on the amn.pt home page, by zone. The online notice overrides the signals shown at the harbour.
Navigation warnings: Instituto Hidrográfico local warnings, geoanavnet.hidrografico.pt.
IPMA high-seas area 18 São Vicente.
Hazards
Benagil caves. A restricted zone from Praia do Vale do Lapa to Praia de Albandeira, within 500 m of the coast and out to the 30 m contour. Inside the main cave (the Algar), motor craft use the west entrance, kayaks and paddleboards the east; at most 5 motor craft at a time, for 2 minutes each, bow out only, never at night or in visibility under 1,000 m, and no landing. Fines reach €44,000. The Benagil mooring buoys are for craft up to 6 m only. A 35 to 38 ft yacht should not go in: look from outside the zone.
Portimão. Ships use the Arade channel. Keep clear of the outer anchorage south of the entrance. Keep a distance of 1.5 times the cliff height from the cliffs.
The Faro-Olhão bar. Strong streams at the bar, strongest at springs. No anchoring in the approach channel. Watch VHF 14 and 16 on entry. Closed: 2 cones point to point by day, or green-red-green lights by night. Conditioned: cones and a ball, or green-red-green-white, and only vessels over 10 m may move.
Other bars. The Armona and Fuseta bars, east of Culatra, have unstable shoals. Keep 1 nm off them.
The seahorse refuge. No navigation in the secondary channel east of Culatra village, between the village and the Lavajo. Points on its edge include 37°00.123′N 007°49.491′W and 36°59.768′N 007°49.353′W.
Anchoring at Culatra. Culatra is in the Olhão harbour authority's area. Its anchoring rules (Edital 1-A/2016) could not be read for this plan. Phone the Capitania de Olhão before arriving to confirm where a yacht may anchor and for how long.
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Baleeira
Start
Within the first hour
Anchorage.
Lagos
At waypoint 2
Weather turns early
Marina, +351 282 770 210.
Portimão
At waypoint 3
Wind or sea rising early
Bar status on marinha.pt. Marina inside the entrance: Check the pilot book
Vilamoura
At waypoint 6
Bar in doubt, or late
Marina, VHF 9 and 16, entrance 4 m, reception +351 289 310 560.
Olhão
3 nm inside the bar
No room or no permission to anchor at Culatra
Marina at the town. Check the pilot book
Pilotage
Leaving Baleeira
Weigh anchor and head south-east out of the bay, then east along the cliffs.
Keep 1 nm off Ponta da Piedade's sea stacks, then make sail.
Into the Ria Formosa
At waypoint 7, look at the bar signals and call Faro port on VHF 14 (watch 16).
Enter between the moles (east Fl G 4s, west Fl R 4s) on the flood, on the leading line (front light Oc 4s).
Inside, turn east toward Culatra, keeping in the channel. Faro Port Control works VHF 13 and 74.
Anchor west of the village, outside the seahorse refuge, where the Capitania confirms. Show an anchor light. Check on the chart
Lights on the way
Ponta da Piedade
Fl 7s, 51 m
Ponta do Altar
White, 2 s on and 3 s off, 32 m
Portimão moles
Fl G 5s and Fl R 5s
Alfanzina
Fl(2) 15s, 56 m
Vilamoura
Check on the chart: the marina and the Lighthouse Directory disagree
Bar status: Marinha, Estado das Barras, marinha.pt (all bars on this stretch shown open in October 2026).
Local warnings: Instituto Hidrográfico, geoanavnet.hidrografico.pt.
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.