Paddleboarding in the Douro Valley
Today, we dug into our adventurous side and booked a paddleboard outing with a guide in the Douro Valley. For those who aren’t aware, the Douro River is the famous waterway connecting inland Portugal to Porto and the Atlantic Ocean and it is gorgeous!
We were very fortunate to have an amazing guide, Pedro from Enjoy Douro to lead us on our three-hour journey. Consistent with everything we’ve experienced in Portugal, reaching the Douro Valley was just as spectacular and beautiful.
After going through the training review with Pedro, he suggested that he’d bring a spare kids’ paddleboard with him in tow just in case the girls wanted to give it a try. However, he recommended the girls sit with each of us for the trip. We were a bit uncertain which was the best way – own boards or shared – but heeded his experience and advice.
Pushing off directly into the Douro River, we took a direct line across the river to a nearby island where a smaller tributary, the Paiva River, is located. While we were still finding our water legs and getting the pace of paddling, as luck would have it one of the LARGER river cruise boats started to come into view from downstream! Pedro strongly urged us to paddle promptly and head to the area across the river beyond the buoy. Lucky for us, this was a quick lesson in paddling and we made it, hearts pounding a little inside!
Did we mention that the European definition of “safety” may differ slightly from what we are used to in North America? Anyway, we finally made our way to the Paiva River safely and continued on our journey.
The Douro Valley is dammed with shipping locks which were added sometime over the past century as a better way to regulate and control water levels. The benefit of this from a paddleboarding perspective is that there is almost no current on the rivers in the valley and they are effectively giant lakes in between the several dams along the way.
As we made our way up the Paiva River, Katia was the first girl to bite and get a turn paddleboarding on her own. This was one of those situations initially where we were unsure whether they would try the paddleboarding for five minutes and then quit (causing three groaning hours of pushing them along or having the experience cut short) or they would take to the paddleboarding and want more and MORE! Seeing her sister successfully paddleboard, Emmeline pushed for her turn as well and thankfully they both loved the experience and wanted more.
After taking a few turns with the girls upstream to the point where the river was impassable, we took a breather and began the return journey. The main benefit to having only one kids’ board this time was that the girl on the shared board with Micheka or I still wanted to paddle! We’ve officially reached the stage of parenting where the girls are really growing and pushing for their independence, meaning that in this case, mom and dad could just sit back and enjoy the river.
The girls really loved paddleboarding and made us promise to take them again sometime. I’m pretty sure next time they will have their own boards, no questions! They each paddled for almost 3 hours straight this trip!
Once the experience ended, Pedro directed us to the beach at Praia Fluvial de Bitetos where we could spend the afternoon before he took us back home. While we do enjoy some of the local watering holes in the area, this was probably our favourite beach by far – gorgeous sand, beautiful views, and a convenient beach bar with food, popsicles, and beverages!
Heading back home through Marco de Canaveses, Pedro pointed out some history we were oblivious to. We were unaware that there were old Roman structures and ruins in the area (but not surprised) and a 1000-year-old church, Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Vila Boa do Bispo next to a property of nobility where kings and other dignitaries would pass through! Further, we learned that some of the first Roman ruins in Portugal were found near us in Marco and they are still in the process of excavating them.
A big thanks to Pedro and the amazing experience we had this day!