From Sea to Table — sign up to be notified of our first harvest, coming summer 2026.
"We do not produce salt — we harvest it. From nature, with respect. To the table, with pride."
We are the living legacy of four generations dedicated to the artisanal salt pans of the Castro Marim Nature Reserve. It begins with our great-grandfather António Correia da Silva of Monte Francisco, who first understood that the Algarve's true gold was the convergence of sun, wind, and tide. In 1987 the craft passed to our grandfather Raúl Salvador Correia, who kept the marinhas alive through decades of industrialisation. Our father Custódio José Pereira Correia carried it forward — and today Custódio, Nuno and Soraia Correia are rehabilitating the old warehouse at Venta Moinhos to bring our harvest to the world.
Harvesting our Sea Salt and Flor de Sal entirely by hand is how we honour the ancient dance between the sun, the wind, and the tides — to ensure a product of absolute purity.
Today, we carry this heritage forward with a bold commitment to transparency. We blend age-old tradition with modern integrity, offering a product that is not just tasted, but trusted.
A family-run brand with a Portuguese soul, committed to quality, sustainability, and authenticity.
The salt of Castro Marim is more than a product — it is a heritage flowing through this land for over 2,500 years.
Phoenician sailors already trade here, exchanging goods for fish preserved with Castro Marim sea salt.
Romans turn the Algarve into one of the Empire's greatest fish-preservation centres, using our salinas to produce garum — the legendary fermented fish sauce.
King Afonso III's charter declares all salinas royal property.
Locals are allowed to build their own salt pans, keeping three-quarters of the harvest.
Castro Marim is declared a safe haven for saline workers.
The Navigator decrees that all salt for preserving tuna and sardines must come first from Castro Marim.
"These are the best assets that exist in Castro Marim." — Henrique Fernandes Serrão
The salt pans of Castro Marim appear, drawn in meticulous detail, on a military map commissioned by the Count of Schaumburg-Lippe — a testament to how strategic this salt had become to the kingdom.
The Correia family takes up the craft at Venta Moinhos — the lineage that continues today.
This is more than salt. It is the living memory of a people who turned seawater into white gold.
Salt has been harvested from these estuaries for more than two and a half millennia — first by the Phoenicians, then by the Romans, who recognised the Castro Marim microclimate as one of the finest in the Mediterranean basin. The method has scarcely changed: gravity, sun, wind, and the patient hand of the marnoto.
Our pans sit inside the Reserva Natural do Sapal de Castro Marim e Vila Real de Santo António — a protected wetland where artisanal salt-making and biodiversity depend on one another.
Visit the Salt Pans →"A specific salinity profile born from the marriage of the Guadiana River and the Atlantic Ocean."
Pure Atlantic Ocean water surges into the Guadiana River, bringing mineral richness to our gates at high tide.
Gravity guides the water through the Tejo and Contra-Tejo (our large reservoirs or viveiros), where the sun begins the evaporation process.
The brine moves to the Caldeiras and passes through the Travadouros, warming up and increasing in salinity as it travels.
The "marnoto" must rake the salt from the bottom of the crystallisers, without ever touching the clay soil beneath.
Castro Marim salt pans are man-made wetlands that serve as a vital sanctuary for aquatic birds — flamingos, avocets, black-winged stilts. Without artisanal salt production, these habitats would dry up. The guardians of our biodiversity are the best attestation of the purity of our Salt.
The guardians of our biodiversity are the best attestation of the quality and purity of our Salt.
“If Nature approves, the Salt is pure.”
Unlike industrial table salt — chemically processed to become 99.9% isolated sodium chloride — Sal Correia is a whole food. Harvested by hand, dried only by the sun and wind, never washed. The ocean's original mineral matrix, preserved.
There is a remarkable similarity between the mineral balance of sea water and human blood plasma. Industrial salt is a chemical isolate that hits your system hard; Sal Correia delivers sodium alongside its natural antagonists — Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium. That balance helps your cells absorb water effectively, rather than trapping it between them. Hydration, not retention.
While our salt is rich in essential minerals compared to refined salt, it is not a medicine. It should be consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet. Individuals with specific medical conditions regarding sodium intake should consult their physician.
Our Salt, like a fine wine, is shaped by its year and by the specific terroir of the Castro Marim Nature Reserve. Discover the exact day, month and year within the season your salt was hand-harvested.
Every package invites you into our history. A QR code on every jar reveals the exact harvest date and the lab analysis of your specific Safra. Harvested by hand, in centuries-old salt pans shaped by time. No chemicals, no shortcuts — just nature and tradition.
Salt is born from nature. See the real meteorological data from the day of your harvest — the sunshine, wind direction, and humidity that shaped your unique crystals.
Total traceability to the exact salt pan. We trace your specific jar back to the traditional plot (talho) and the specific harvest cycle (rasa) of the season — the Safra.
Uncompromising quality, backed by science. Access the laboratory analysis for your batch — its rich matrix of Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium, and our 0% additives guarantee.
Every crystal gathered by hand. Learn the methods used by the marnoto to harvest your batch, honouring the Roman heritage of the Algarve.
Castro Marim salt pans are man-made wetlands that serve as a vital sanctuary for aquatic birds. Without artisanal salt production, these habitats would dry up.
Stories, essays and dispatches on salt, place, and the people who still harvest by hand.
Be the first to taste our inaugural harvest — the Safra of 2026. Register to become a member of our extended family and get early access and behind-the-scenes updates from our salt pans in Castro Marim.
Follow our journey @SalCorreiaSeaSalt — from salt pan to your table.
