Cascais Travel Forum

Hi, I have seen a couple of references on the web to the sea being polluted and not suitable for swimming in Cascais (Google Book Search - Frommers and Rough Guide). Is this information out of date? We are hoping to travel to Cascais in July with our 5 year old and would prefer somewhere safe for her to swim. Could anyone advise?

Thanks.

In 2006, Cascais complied with guide or mandatory values set by the European Union.
You can download the 2007 report (PDF), which happens to be the most recent, covering the 2006 data, from the Website of the European Union:

http://ec.europa.eu/water/water-bathing/report_2007.html

I'm not sure if taking a bath there is a good idea, though. Water is actually not really warm. Add to this that there are always many ships around and that you never know what they dump into the water, a swimming pool may be more suitable.

By the way, the Wise Viewer or Atlas (see link in my previous post) is informative, too. So the beach at your doorstep fulfills the mandatory values only. Which means it's safe, but it could be better.

Hi.

i'm sorry about this information.

As you can see (http://www.abae.pt/programa/BA/zonas_balneares/galardoadas.php) there is at least 5 beaches under the "Associação Bandeira Azul da Europa / FEE Portugal" rules.

This award is given each year to the best beaches. Items like the water quality, parking spaces, bathrooms, etc are taking in consideration.

The water is this region is not the most warm in Portugal. If you want a warmer water, i recommend the Algarve region.

I hope this helps you...and come to Cascais and Portugal with no worrys.

=)

Hi,

Thank you very much for your information.

Best Regards.