Hello!
We are going to southern Portugal when May turns to June. Are the pools usually warm enough for the kids to swim in that time of year? We have not yet booked a hotel from Albufeira, so I was thinking if we should try to find at least one place with a heated (preferably outdoor) pool, in case the water is otherwise too cold? Are there any places that heat the outdoor pool in the beginning of June?
It's going to be hot, no need for a heated pool, here's a nice
weather chart of Albufeira. Be warned the sea temperature will still be cool unlike the rest of the med.
"Be warned the sea temperature will still be cool unlike the rest of the med."
The med (=Mediterranean) begins at Gibraltar, so Albufeira is at the Atlantic. In fact I don't think the Med is already warm at the end of may/beginning of June. You'll have to wait till the end of June and the month of July, August and September. Of course, we may differ what is warm, 20 degrees or 25 degrees.
Tecnically Algarve is in the Atlantic Ocean but in practival terms the Water temperature is affected by the mediterranean and is similar to all Mediterranean spots. In practical terms Algarve is Mediterranean, as Portuguese food is refered as Mediterranean, and also nature, etc. So despite not touched by the Mediterranean Sea it is a Mediterranean area.
In terms of water temperature it depends, sometimes June is a great month but usually in June water tempearture is still too cold (at least for me).
Enjoy
H.
as Portuguese food is refered as Mediterranean,
by whom? Portugal is Southern European. It is not Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean Sea loses more water through evaporation than the amount that enters into it from the different rivers and as a result there normally is an easterly current in the Strait of Gibraltar. At low tides there is a slow current in westerly direction. As a result there is not much influence on the water-temperature on the Atlantic side due to the Mediterranean. A couple of days ago, according to the Spanish TV, the water-temperatures in the Mediterranean near the Spanish coast were 14-16 degrees and near Cadiz, on the Atlantic side, 17 degrees. Normally the difference in water-temperature between summer and winter is much less on the Atlantic side than in the Mediterranean.