All about Vale do Lobo

Located within the resort are two 18-hole golf courses with some holes enjoying spectacular views. Tennis players are well catered for at the David Lloyd tennis centre. The Barrington sports & health club offer excellent facilities and a 30 bay driving range. Further leisure facilities like a crazy-golf course, beach sports and a resort pool make it ideal for a family holiday. Situated by the beach-side is the heart of Vale do Lobo, the Praça, with is international shops, bars, and restaurants.

On the 4th january 2008 the ‘Portugal News’ published the following article:

Vale do Lobo, the largest luxury resort in the Algarve, located on 2km of coastline between Faro and Vilamoura, will undertake a sand refurbishment operation to halt the depletion of its beach and the erosion of its ochre cliffs, which have become the signature of Algarve golf throughout the world. The sand refurbishment – the second to take place at Vale do Lobo over the last decade – will begin in March 2008 and will be completed within approximately six weeks. The procedure will involve the restoration of 275,000 cubic metres of sand, representing an investment of more than _1.5 million, fully financed by the Vale do Lobo Group of Companies and Vale do Lobo proprietors’ club members.

The sand restored to the beach will be dredged from the seabed and pumped through a network of pipes onto the beach, following a complex research process in which areas of the seabed were tested for quality of sand and the possibility of removing some without adversely affecting the natural balance. The operation will be carried out by Anglo-Dutch consortium Royal Boskalis Westminster. The method was chosen after experts throughout the world found sand refurbishment to be the best and most natural way to protect the coastline. Its result will be to raise the level of the beach and thus protect the cliff line naturally from erosion. In the most critical areas, sand dunes are to be created to increase the protection of the resort’s golf courses and homes.

This undertaking was found to be necessary because the Vale do Lobo coast has suffered a rapid retreat since the 1980′s, with the Atlantic’s natural erosive effect accentuated since the construction of Vilamoura marina, which did not consider any measures to minimise erosion. Without intervention, erosion has been rapidly evolving the coastline, resulting in cliff-fall, reduced sand levels making for less attractive beaches, and destruction of beachside homes and amenities. Two homes have already had to be demolished at Vale do Lobo – a powerful contributor to the luxury resort’s management and proprietors’ club members’ decision that the theory of letting nature take its course should be abandoned.

The first sand refurbishment operation undertaken by Vale do Lobo in 1998 – the cost of which was shared equally between Vale do Lobo and the Portuguese government – was successful in halting the erosion of the coastline in the following years. It protected the coastline running from Vale do Lobo to Faro, as part of the sand placed on the beach was carried to the East side and deposited alongside the coast running to the Algarve capital.

It is expected that this new refurbishment programme will protect the Vale do Lobo coastline for several years to come. However, this is a temporary answer to the problem and research continues for a more permanent solution. Notably, Vale do Lobo is researching the possibility that creation of an artificial island could solve erosion problems, protecting the coastline not only in front of Vale do Lobo but all the way to Faro. The company is pursuing a study begun in 1984 by Eng. José Carlos Gonçalves Viana (former Secretary of State of the Merchant Navy and later of Fisheries).

Technical and environmental research to further this study is currently underway, uniting Portuguese and international maritime experts with Vale do Lobo technicians.

For more information on Villas in Vale do Lobo – please contact us.