Portugal- Europe’s unknown whitewater
I love Ryanair. The next time I hear someone giving out about the Irish low fares airline, I will remind them that Ryanair has opened up all of Europe as our back yard. Based in Dublin, I often jump on a plane to Corsica, Slovenia, Italy or Norway and will frequently be ready to hit the river sooner that I would be at the far side of the country. So this New Year we arrived in Porto (flights from Dublin, London and Frankfurt), kayaks in tow, with mixed expectations of what we would find.
I need not of worried. Portugal is one of the very best places to go boating in Europe.
Not many people have been whitewater kayaking in Portugal. Over the past few years, stories began to circulate about a granite steep creeking paradise, but the impression I got was that the rivers were very fickle and rain dependent.
Well, just back from spending an awesome New Year mission in the hills around Porto, I can vouch that Portugal deserves to be ranked along with Corsica and Italy in terms of quality and variety of its whitewater.
Want to know a secret? You are more or less guaranteed quality whitewater all winter in Portugal. We arrived two weeks after rain, we ran most of the very steep low volume class 5 creeks as well as the larger volume class 3-5 runs which run solidly from October - April.
BC, Norway, Italy? No, Ferg O Mahoney scouts another big rapid on the Gargantuan de Paiva, Portugal.
Rivers paddled:
Castro- For class 5 steep creeking knuckleheads only. Like the Teigdalen in Noway, or the Codi in Corsica, this is one of the world’s best steep creeks
Fergal O Mahoney catching his breath on the Castro. We ran the 35 footer behind him blind, by accident due to a momentary lapse in spatial awareness by a member of the group. The locals call it Back Breaker. Don’t boof.
The drop in this photo is 120 feet (40 m) high.
Quality granite slides and drops with a multi pitch abseil portage in the middle. Be prepared for a long day.
Pitch two of the abseil portage. The locals sometimes jump 20 metres into the pool, but the day we were there the rocks were dangerously slippy due to rain.
Rob on the Castro
Heavy fog made scouting interesting
Gargantuan de Paiva- Awesome class 4-5 river in a deep gorge. A must do.
Catherine Halpin on the Paiva
Jim Kennedy on the Paiva
Rob on the Paiva
Tamega (Upper)- World class. Quality, big volume class 4-5. My favorite run in Portugal.
Catherine Halpin on the Tamega
Tua- 20 km of beautiful class 3-4. Reminded me of a minature version of the Zambezi, if such a thing can be imagined. Hop on the train for a shuttle. Sadly due to be dammed in the near future.
Cavado- Steep, clean granite slides. Paradise.
Alto Vez- We ran the class 4 lower part with very low levels. The upper is a class 5 mission with water in it.
Louredo In higher water this river would be a blast, in lower water it felt nasty and full of syphons when we ran it.
Deva A tributary of the mighty Minho river near Melgaco , a sweet class 4 warm up run
Vouga A long enjoyable class 4 day.
A classic rapid on the Vouga
Some logistics:
Fly with Ryanair to Porto (flights from Dublin, London and Frankfurt).
Hire two cars. There are three main paddling areas in Portugal, all about 1.5 hours from Porto:
1) Melgaco (near the Minho, Moro, Alto Vez, Castro rivers)
2) Mondim (near to the Tamega, Louredo)
3) Paiva river (several sections including the Gargantuan de Paiva and the unfortunately named ‘Sex Up’)
There are two guidebooks. The English one Portugal Kayak by Rui Calado is vital. A good map is essential, as even with the guidebook finding the put ins and take outs can be a real mission. Due to the laybrinthine nature of Portugese roads, naviagation can be very difficult. Try to hook up with the local boaters, they are among the friendliest I’ve met and are a great source of info.
Stay in Residentials( about 10-15 euro a night), or the excellent hostel in Melgaco. If you like meat you will love Portugese food. Eating out is very cheap. Portugal in winter is cold. I was happy to be wearing a drysuit. The rivers are all committing, walking out would be very tough. Be prepared for long days.
Here is a tip for carrying boats on rental cars: bring two planks of wood in your paddle bag, bring four jubilee clips (available in any hardware) and voila- you have one bomber roofrack
For more info check out http://www.pagayak.com/ run by local kayaker Jorge Jorge.
The local boaters were overwhelmingly friendly. We got the hook up in style wherever we went. We even got invited back to Jorge Rabisso’s grandmother’s house for some port- a first for me, I think. Without the local paddler’s knowledge we would have been lost (literally) on many occasions.
The rural villages have been devestated by emigration, and most of the young people have left. The economic situation in rural Portugal reminded me of Ireland in the 1980’s- an entire generation forced to seek work abroad.
Jorge Rabisso, Ferg O Mahoney, Felip, Fred, Catherine Halpin and Jim Kennedy
Overall, I couldn’t think of a better place for a winter boating mission than Portugal. Special thanks to Jorge Jorge, Jorge Rabico, Felip and all the local paddlers who made our time in Portugal so enjoyable. Now all we need is some snow for our two week boarding mission in the Alps next month.
Yes, I love Ryanair.
Photos by Jim Kennedy and Rob Coffey
