How racy cruises & boozy skinny dips turned historic town near Europe's glam 'golden triangle' into ‘Ibiza on steroids'

ON a boat in the middle of the sea, a young woman with only a little whipped cream to cover her modesty lies while another girl leans on her and licks her.

After drinking unlimited drinks in the hot sun for the past two hours, she continues to dose between her friend’s nipples, using only her mouth.

Drunk young men on a party boat off the coast of Lagos

Every inch of the boat is covered in 18-30s bikinis

Meanwhile, on the upper deck, guys in glittery packaging drink beer through bongs, while girls in thongs stand over them, showing off their perfectly sassy asses and pouring it into a funnel.

Every inch of the boat is covered with bikini-clad 18- to 30-somethings, who will no doubt head down to the beach later for even cheaper drinks and dancing, before going for a skinny dip in the sea at the end of the night.

But this does not happen in Magaluf, Gran Canaria or Benidorm.

It’s actually Portugal’s Algarve – usually better known for family beach holidays, golf courses and dramatic coastline.

While Spanish locals seem to be trying to find more and more ways to stop British tourists reaching for the best beaches, many young Brits are finding new places to go.

While Premiership footballers frequent the luxury resorts of the Golden Triangle, teenagers and Brits in their twenties flock to Lagos on a quick two-hour flight from London to take full advantage of the cheap drinks and wild entertainment on offer.

Over the past three years, crime in the historic and picturesque coastal town – whose boozy party spot has been described by one local as ‘Ibiza on steroids’ – has risen by 67 per cent.

In June, Britons were warned they could face extraordinary fines for making too much noise on the beach, as Portugal’s national maritime authority banned loud music from loudspeakers, with fines of up to £3,440, and group fines reaching a staggering £100,000. 30,953.

The stunningly clear blue waters attract tourists from all over the worldCredit: Olivia West

Crime has risen in recent years in the historic Algarve city of Lagos Credit: Olivia West

It seems we might anger the locals with our wild behavior.

Born in London’s Brixton but living in Portugal for most of his life, Wise, 33, has been working at the Flamingo and its sister bar Muchaha, next door, since 2018 bringing revelers off the street with his charisma and charm.

He tells us: “You can always find Brits drinking in the streets and fountains, so they can be jerks.”

Midnight skinny dips

Sofia, 19, and her friends Ana, 20, Amber, 19 and Rosie, 19, all from Nottingham, came to Lagos for a girls’ holiday after hearing about the rowdy street in the city centre.

The resort is full of bars and clubs, such as Inside Out and Flamingo, where you’ll get a free shot on entry and five shots for £5.

Sofia tells us: “It’s the right place – beaches by day, parties by night!”

But on their first night out, they discovered they had timed their trip perfectly for the craziest party of the year, Banho 29, in Praia da Luz, where we met them having just taken a dip in the sea at midnight.

“I wasn’t even cold – it’s an alcohol jacket!” Amber laughs.

Dating back to ancient times and rituals and marking the end of summer, locals believed that taking a purifying sea bath on August 29 was equivalent to taking 29 baths, which helped ward off demons.

Although centuries have passed, the midnight swim has remained an annual tradition – but it has turned into a big, boozy party on the beach, with people flocking from all over the world.

The annual Banho 29 party in Praia Da Luz is the craziest this yearCredit: Olivia West

Thousands flock to the ocean for a midnight party Credit: Olivia West

Some revelers really fall in love with the party spirit – even outside of their clothesCredit: Olivia West

Couples in love take over the beach Credit: Olivia West

When midnight strikes, hundreds of tourists – many of them completely naked – run into the sea, splash around, jump on each other and kiss while the music blares until 3am.

One British woman, who did not want to be named, tells us she has been coming to Banho 29 every year since she moved to Portugal four years ago.

“Originally it was meant to be a holistic thing, but us Brits came along and made it more fun!” she laughs.

‘Like a cheaper Ibiza’

Mental health nursing student Abbi, 21, from Sheffield, first visited Lagos two years ago with friends and now works at Rising Cock Party Hostel between studies.

The family-run hostel holds its infamous booze cruise every Wednesday and Saturday, charging partygoers €45 (£38) for three hours of drinking games, unlimited drinks and dancing – and Abba’s job is to “entertain every night and make sure everyone has fun”.

He also organizes free bar tours every night, going outside the hostel, driving revelers from place to place, including the Taverna – which was having a neon party when we left.

You don’t have to stay at the Rising Cock to enjoy the events – although if you do, you’ll get pancakes for breakfast made fresh by the owner’s mum, Fatima, whom everyone, including staff and guests, calls “Mom”.

“We had 65 people at the bars last week and only 50 beds,” Abbi tells us. “I just thought, ‘Where did all these people come from?'”

“This is such a sick town,” says Abbi. “It’s like a cheaper version of Ibiza!

“Drinks here are so cheap – more than cheap – and the beach is on your doorstep, the bars are good, the nightlife is unreal and the food is so good. It has every cuisine you can imagine!”

Drinks, drugs… and hot cops

During a night out in Lagos city centre, where the streets are absolutely lined with ‘free drink’ tokens, we spotted a barefoot, drunk guy from London shouting about the fact that he’d lost his shoes – and his phone for the second time in the same night.

It only took us five minutes to stand in front of a sports shop, plastered with a huge picture of Cristiano Ronaldo, right on the main square in Lagos, for a surprisingly well-dressed man to approach us asking if we wanted to buy weed or cocaine.

Revelers line up around the street Credits: Olivia West

Lagos is full of cheap places to party Credit: Olivia West

And, in one of the main clubs in Lagos, we witnessed two girls walking into a men’s club together, giggling as they took out a plastic bag containing a white powder.

Despite being told to go to the men’s room, the staff didn’t seem concerned about what was in their hands.

In Lagos, possession is prohibited by Portuguese law, and criminal penalties still apply to growers, dealers and traffickers.

Despite this, convictions and prison terms for drug dealers almost halved from 2001 to 2015, and the police in Lagos – who are infinitely more ripped, tanned and younger than the UK’s police force – told us they rarely deal with drugs .

In July last year, a group of young men from Britain were charged with around 4,000 euros in damage, when they broke beds, tore locks from doors, urinated on curtains and paraded naked in front of other guests in the Apartmentos Regina complex, where they were staying.

“Most nights we’re busy, but it’s usually because of the drinks,” one extremely handsome cop tells us. “Usually there are incidents, maybe fights or people misbehaving because they’ve had too much to drink.

“Some people can’t handle a drink, so sometimes they come here, drink a little more and get a little aggressive.