Top Things to do in Praia da Rocha
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10 Things to Do in Praia da Rocha That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Praia da Rocha, Portugal including GRASPaWASP, Algarve Discovery, Subnauta Dive The Algarve, Praia Da Rocha, Rocha Surf Shop, The Manhattan Cafe, Squash Bar, Casa do "Vo" Serafim, Ireland's Eye, Playsurf Escola de Surf e SUP.
Restaurants in Praia da Rocha
1. GRASPaWASP
Overall Ratings
5 based on 168 reviews
GRASPaWASP, Scooter, Vespa, Convertible Cars and Bike Rental. GRASPaWASP TOURS: Guided Tours by Convertible Car and Scooter guided tours. Let GRASPaWASP kick-start your vacation into high gear! Rent your Scooter and experience Italian timeless style, combined with modern 4 stroke engines! An unforgettable and environment-friendly mobility! Easy online booking and scooter Delivery to your place! GRASPaWASP TOURS offers you an extraordinary adventure driving a Convertible Car. Cruise natural landscapes that only the Algarve can offer in which you will discover places, that is much more than sun and sand!
Reviewed By cuty777 - Washington DC, District of Columbia
I don't think I have ever been treated better by a business. Actually, to tell you the truth, I think even my friends are not quite as nice half of the time.
The communication with the owners happens in real time, they respond within minutes with very detailed information - pre-set Google maps, phone numbers, location, you name it.
Ralf and Ilenia delivered the scooter to our apartment, gave me an opportunity to try it out and when I did not prove to be quite as a capable rider as I thought, offered to take us on a tour in their convertible for no extra charge. (I almost rode the scooter into a store and they still let me ride it around the block for a proper test :))
Ilenia arrived on time, did an amazing job navigating narrow and hilly streets all the while chatting effortlessly about a variety of subjects (what an interesting life she's had!). She brought snorkeling equipment, swam to the caves with us, offered to take pictures, laughed and made our tour absolutely wonderful. There was no rush, it felt like we were out with a friend for an afternoon of swimming.
I would highly recommend working with this company - capable, patient, genuinely enjoying their job, providing the highest level of customer service.
2. Algarve Discovery
Overall Ratings
5 based on 85 reviews
Algarve Discovery Lda, has to operate in the Algarve tourism sector specifically in Portimao area, the own jeep safari, tours in classic cars, renting bikes, electric bikes, 50cc motorcycle, 125cc motorcycles and vintage wasps. To broaden our services to the representation of other agents feel the need to create infrastructure able to meet the request of our customers, therefore we opened our store on Avenue cabreira doses near the Casino in Praia da Rocha. We believe add to the Algarve more than the Algarve and we intend to bring to the world the best of what the world has. Meet All experiences that can live with us
Reviewed By TikiTiki_7 - Orange County, California, USA
We booked the Algarve Coastline tour with Algarve Discovery and it was more spectacular than we could have imaged. First, we went in a small zodiac boat that held 10 people (we noticed many other tours had larger boats that wouldn't be able to navigate into the little coves like our guide could with the zodiac). The views are spectacular. I wish I could remember our guide's name but one of the highlights was how much he enjoyed showing us his beautiful country's coastline. You could tell he loved sharing it with us and telling us about Portugal. As if the boat tour wasn't amazing enough, we then went on the jeep tour. First we stopped at a very old church which was partially destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. Then we went by land to the coves that we had seen by sea and it was just incredible. Stunningly beautiful. I also don't recall our jeep driver's name, but once again, he was so gracious and patient while we took lots of photos and explored. He was in no rush as was also very happy to tell us whatever we wanted to learn about Southern Portugal. Very kind and proud to share his knowledge with us. He offered to stop at a small pastry shop on the way back and it was wonderful. The best coffee and chocolate salami we've ever had. Spectacular day. I could have done the exact same tour the following day as you can't get enough of the breathtaking Southern Portuguese coastline.
3. Subnauta Dive The Algarve
Overall Ratings
5 based on 111 reviews
Reviewed By P d
Subnauta was recommended to me because of the quality but mostly because of the wrecks you could visit. So I booked a 2-dive trip to the wrecks and e-mail contact with them went fine.
When I got there, all my equipment was already waiting for me and I could immediately proceed with the oxygen tests. There was a nice dressing room with lockers to change into my wetsuit and then we were then transported to the marina by a golf-cart, where the boat was waiting for us. After a short trip we arrived at the OceanRevival-site and got ready to dive.
Even though visibility here is not fantastic (5-6m), the wrecks were very impressive and especially prepped to enter at some places, even by non-certified wreckdivers. Also, there was abundant sealife present and multiple big Octopi.
after the first dive, we could lounge in the sun with a nice breakfast/lunch, while the staff changed the tanks and brought us to the second dive spot. You may want to consider bringing some sunscreen at a sunny day. The second dive was also great and after we were done, we were transported back to the marina and went back to the dive center with the same cart. Apart from removing personal items we didn't have to do a thing with all the equipment: the staff handled that.
In the locker room, towels were waiting for us to us in the spacious and very nice showers.
All in all two dives to remember at a fabulous diving center.
4. Praia Da Rocha
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4 reviews
Reviewed By DominikaCK - San Francisco, California
Beautiful long beach for walks and swimming, connected with many other Beaches with stone sculptures made by nature. I don't recommend it during the summer because it is overloaded with tourists, but the rest of the year is the paradise. If you're lucky you can even swim in October.
5. Rocha Surf Shop
Overall Ratings
5 based on 59 reviews
Rocha Surf Shop is right on the Praia da Rocha; Algarve, diagonally opposite the Hotel Oriental. We are a Surf and SUP (Stand up Paddle) Shop with all the clothes and surf stuff you need. Book Surf Lessons / Surf Trips with us. We offer Stand up Paddle lessons and unforgettable SUP Trips along our beautiful coast line through caves and desert Beaches. Rent your Surf and SUP equipment with us. We rent as well bikes and skates on our Shop. We are looking forward to your visit :-) "Life is better at the Beach"
Reviewed By Guillaume Q
Good surf shop. I recommend to going there, to rent a board or just to find your happiness. Very nice staff and so helpfully ! I will return there the next time ! Thanks guysThanks for visiting us, see you soon =)
6. The Manhattan Cafe
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 87 reviews
A small little cocktail bar in Praia da Rocha, one of the key resorts in the sunny Algarve, Portugal. We do cocktails, and we do them for reasonable prices, you can always get a deal from this family owned cocktail bar.
Reviewed By surfyboy1973 - Tamworth, staffs
We visited "The Manhattan Cafe" in Praia da Rocha during a 5-night stay in Portugal.
After looking at all the fantastic reviews and suffering over inflated drinks prices elsewhere we decided to track it down.
A word of advice. DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE MAPS to the Manhattan café. It will send you around in circles and put you down a side road around the corner, we spend 20 minutes before giving up on Google maps and found it by blind luck.
The Manhattan Café is located in the “Alisuper Commercial Shopping Centre” which is sandwiched between the Restaurante Pizzeria and the Gelataria Cafeteria. Go through the shopping centre and its right at the end on the right hand side next to an Indian restaurant (there, that's saved you both time and effort).
Once you’ve found this little gem you will be rewarded with a New York themed bar that’s open 24 hours a day. A pint of Super bock is 1.50 euros and the cocktails are 2 for 7 euros.
The bar staff are friendly & obviously from New York. There is Seating both inside the bar and outside in the parade. There isn’t any live music but there is music playing in the background.
Happy hour is till 8pm and after that the drink go up by around 1 euro, but that’s still way cheaper than most of the bar on the main strip.
Overall rating 9/10.
7. Squash Bar
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 67 reviews
8. Casa do "Vo" Serafim
Overall Ratings
5 based on 20 reviews
Casa do "Vo" Serafim it's a small shop, selling typical products and handicrafts, produced by small producers and craftsmen of the Algarve region.
Reviewed By SonyaDevine
Went to this shop on a recommendation and I wasn't disappointed. The couple who run the shop were friendly and very helpful. The products for sale were absolutely exquisite, I'm not a huge fan of honey but I tasted some samples in there that were...MoreHello Sonya, thanks for your review, it's always a pleasure to show our customers, the delicious products that the Algarve has to offer. In "Casa do Vô Serafim", the satisfaction of our customers and their opinions are very important. Tânia Serafim
9. Ireland's Eye
Overall Ratings
4 based on 128 reviews
Reviewed By Dublin L - Dublin, Ireland
The staff here are just indescribably nuts. From who I presumed was the manager literally roaring abuse at his staff in full ear-shot of everyone to the chap who served us the whole thing was uncomfortable. We arrived as a family of 4,me,my wife,our teenage daughter and our 6 month old old daughter for what we hoped would be a nice relaxing breakfast,we couldn't of been more wrong. The chap who took our order,another manager or supervisor I think,was clearly hammered drunk and for the duration of our meal stood over us slurring his words trying to make conversation with us whilst roaring over our heads into the kitchen staff. We actually had to leave well before we finished as he was so drunk it was making us all very uncomfortable. We didn't go near this dump again but judging from the noises coming out of it it's just another typical crappy Irish bar with a tone deaf "singer"
Avoid at all costs,the Irish rover next door is a better option
10. Playsurf Escola de Surf e SUP
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 17 reviews
Surf and Stand Up Paddle lessons rents Praia da Rocha and trips to all Algarve
Reviewed By mousymou - London
So here comes my first Surfing experience in Portugal. I am glad I went with the PLAYSURF guys. They have very experienced and great instructors and been helpful for other things besides water activities. In addition, they work with brand new equipments. Lastly, I thought Playsurf's fees for all their activities were perfectly fine comparing to the schools/water activity company's in rest of the Algarve region, Lisbon and even France!
I was sailing from Cadiz and we ended up docking in Portimao, picking this place randomly. As we decided to chillax in Portimao with my crew members, I wondered around what we could do as I didn't want to only lie by the beach. Playsurf school is so close to Praia da Rocha, (Rocha beach) by the marina, also dead close to get from Portimao town. I booked my first surf (group) lesson with them for the afternoon straight away and the rest of my crew went for kayaking to the caves/rocks to somewhere else with other Playsurf team. So Playsurf can offer you more than just Surfing.
First lesson turns out to be a private one as other people who booked their classes didn't turn up! Luis (aka Tarzan) is a great teacher with plenty of experience. Following his very clear instructions and here I am, standing up on my feet already. He was paying lots of attention to both safety and warm-up as both can cause pain if no careful.
The taste of first lesson was too good to leave it there, and I was already craving for more. As I was planning to stay in Portimao only for one night, I decided to leave my crew and stay for two more days and meet them in Lisbon later on, so I could surf bit more. But I had to arrange my accommodation (as I was staying in our yacht).
Bruno, who runs the admin stuff (I think gives lessons too) in Playsurf was uber helpful to find me an accommodation. He made a few phone calls and passed me a phone numbers & websites to check for available places to stay for a night in Portimao.
On my second day, I took full day lessons in Rocha beach. I started with a group lesson in the morning, where there was all age groups, from a 8 year old girl to myself - a 26 year old one :) Tarzan was our teacher again, he was really good managing the whole group, but to be honest I prefer one-to-ones. So in the afternoon I had a one-to-one lesson with Tarzan. If you wanna improve or at least see yourself going with the wave for a meter or so, then do book privates! Playsurf has plenty of new equipment. They will provide you with the best wetsuit that will fit you. They know what they are doing so follow instructions and enjoy your time.
After one and a half days of Surfing in Rocha beach, Bruno has recommended to me to maybe try the West coast (Costa Vicentina - national park) where there were bigger waves. Playsurf guys take you in the morning, you do a fun van trip with boards loaded above you on top of the van and head to West of the country (which is about 30/40 mins of drive). This time I was with another instructor Sandro, who was another great teacher with lots of experience. He drove us to Praia da Amoreira (checking the waves first in different Beaches before we unloaded) So for that day, the best waves were there. After Portimao, this beach felt like as if I was in England. The water was tiny bit colder than Rocha beach but worth to go there for something different and for those "real" waves. You will see that there are many other surf school who hold classes too. Furthermore, I was with another girl who was sort of my level, Sandro was really good at giving instructions to both of us. He also took photos&videos of us while we were trying our best to go with the wave :)
Those waves shook me a little in the beginning as I never experienced such strong currents either but Sandro knew what he was doing, his instructions helped me to enjoy the rest of the lesson. We had a little lunch break, eating and relaxing. (I would recommend to bring your own food, there is a cafe at the beach but it seemed like bit of a walk after the battle with those waves - I am glad I packed my lunch from Portimao following Bruno's advice). So we got back into the water in the afternoon again. Knowing what to expect from those waves helped much. I would say, if you wanna explore another part of Portugal and have a free day then do take Playsurf's day trip. You will defo improve your Surfing skills even if you are beginner or intermediate. I am planning to surf with Playsurf again in October as Bruno was saying that waves in October could be at their best. If no October, I will definitely going back next summer. Lastly, they have skateboards which you can borrow free of charge while waiting for your lessons to begin and start warming those legs :)
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