Praia Marinha Arcos

Praia Marinha is well known for its uniqueness and beauty, the two famous arcs and the dangerous rocks. We have been there many times, for different perspectives, different light, with different equipment. The arcs are the main elements of the Praia Marinha. This time we wanted to get closer to the arcs, even closer than other people.

A difficult task because you have to take care of many things. Rocks can fall down to the ground, the powerful tide and there are many wet and rocky obstacles on the way to the arcs. You will need a tide calculator(!), ladders, ropes, waterproof rucksacks and the most important – you will need some friends to get there.

Praia Marinha, Arcos

Marco, Silvio and I met at 6 o clock in the morning, after a 10 minutes drive to the beach we made our way down to the water. Climbing over the first rocks on our way to the arcs. The most difficult part is to climb over the last platform in front of the two arcs. It’s more than 3 meters high and very slippery from the water with very sharp edges – an evil combination. We have left half of our equipment on the platform, including shoes and other useless material. With the ladder we went down into the water. Holding our rucksacks and tripod above our heads, we made the last fifty meters to our target. Even if the tide is falling, there are some big waves, trying to discourage you.

Praia Marinha, Arcos

There is a big cave below the rocks, home for hundreds of birds. We had to hurry because at 8 o clock the tide started rising already. I did not shoot with my Zeiss Ikon camera, the widest lens I have is the 25mm Biogon, which is not enough to cover the whole Ponte with the Arcos. That’s why I had the 5D and the Distagon 15 with me.

Camera EOS 5D, lens Zeiss Distagon 15mm, f3.5