It's difficult to describe the location on this wonderful little kayak / canoe / paddleboard rental operation, but I'll try. It's on the southwestern shore of the blue half of the lake soon after you cross the bridge between the two halves. Follow signs for the Green Love restaurant and you may or may not stumble across this place.
This small business is wonderful, operated by wonderful people, an older man and a beautiful young woman on the day we went. The older man spoke only Portuguese, but communicated so much kindness through his actions. The young woman's English was perfect, but she was very patient with our pathetic attempts to practice guidebook Portuguese.
Boats are well maintained and come with paddles (double-bladed for adults, single-bladed for children) and life vests. Half an hour for a two-person canoe (in our case with two children stashed in the middle) will set you back a mere 5 Euros and a full hour just 10 Euros. We returned after about 40 minutes (because our children were loudly complaining about hunger), but the young woman only charged us for half an hour. We rounded up to an hour because... well, we hope this place stays open forever and that the kind owners never want for anything.
The lake is, of course, incredible. There's often a nice brisk breeze even on very sunny days and lots of little inlets where you can pull up to swim (or even try to net a fish for lunch to observe some local families). Without children, we could easily have spent an entire day exploring. read more
