Berlenga Island

Warning: Lots of photos in this post—it was tough to narrow them down!
There is an amazing island {or group of them—this is the biggest} just 45 minutes off the coast of Portugal, and we got to see it this week! We scheduled some vacation days and decided we’d better stay close to home, and fortunately Berlenga is!

We rode a boat that carries about 180 people—it was cheaper that way. We learned the hard way that not getting in line early means you have to sit underneath and face sea-sickness. {They even passed out plastic bags to the passengers underneath and not on top!}

 Unbelievable water, right?!  I didn’t make any adjustments in the photos either!


The girls wanted to learn to snorkel like their daddy, but they need to get a bit stronger in their swimming skills. We’ve had a friend who went scuba diving here and loved it too.

a view of the beach we were at and where my husband snorkeled from above

The walking trail takes you high up above the port. You can see the coast we departed from in the distance—Peniche is the city. We live in the area close to that hill you can see way in the background.

After quite some time of walking, you get rewarded with this view: Forte de São João Baptista das Berlengas.

The hike downward felt a tiny bit treacherous, but I’m glad we went down this only versus climbing up!

Like other castles and fortifications we’ve been to in Portugal, the bridge to the fort had no rails. There was even a girl standing there getting enough courage to take a dive from the ledge. We also saw a bride and groom taking wedding photos—talk about a location! You can actually rent rooms in the fort—probably great views over comfort.


We took a glass bottom boat tour for 4Euro a piece, and got to ride into caves like this under the fort. It was worth the price alone to not have to hike back to the main port with our girls!

This rock formation is called “the elephant’s head” I think?

The boat in front of us was going through this passageway. When we passed through, my husband asked me if I felt like I was in a Disneyland ride—surreal for sure. I was reminded of Thunder River at Astroworld for some reason, for any Houstonians out there.

a distant view of the lighthouse we passed on our hike

headed back to the main port before our departure back to the mainland—quite an adventure!