Hole 16, Cliffs of Vale do Lobo,

Algarve, Portugal

Vale do Lobo is both a high-quality tourism complex and a cliffed coastal area in southern Algarve, Portugal. Between 1983 and 1991, shoreline retreat in the area was about 2 m/year (Correia et al., 1996), representing a serious hazard for the existing occupation. As a consequence, two houses were abandoned and Hole 16 (from the Royal golf course) was relocated several times (for a virtual visit see www.algarvegolf.net/courses/royal.htm#). An artificial beach nourishment of about 700,000 m3 took place between October 1998 and January 1999, creating an 80m-wide berm along 1.4 km of coastline. This nourishment reduced the rate of cliff retreat to near zero (Oliveira, 2004). Nowadays the remaining beach nourishment is only residual (see the small berm at the lower left corner of the photograph) and the cliff is again exposed to the wave action during storms and/or spring tides. Hole 16 (part of it is visible on the photograph at the top of the cliff) and other developments are under threat again, and a new human intervention is expected to occur. A “moving golf hole” where drives must cross two gullies to reach the green is probably the ultimate challenge for golf players, but it also represents a headache for coastal managers.

Photo and text by Óscar Ferreira, FCMA/ CIMA, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gabelas, 8000 Faro, Portugal, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it