Cais da Lixa (Portugal)

Cais da Lixa is a Douro River cruise port in Portugal's Porto District (Vila Nova de Gaia municipality). The cruise ship berth (docking facility) is located approx 23 km (14 mi) from the river's mouth.

The main tourist attraction here is the Crestuma–Lever Dam passing. This is a concrete water reservoir on the Douro River, built in the period 1976-1985. The dam is owned by the Lisbon-based company CPPE (Companhia Portuguesa de Producao de Electricidade SA, translated Portuguese Electricity Production Company).

The dam has height 25,5 m (837 ft), length 470 m (1542), 8 gates, the surface area of 13 km2 (5 mi2), and water volume 205,000 m3 (max discharge 26,000 m3 per sec). Its max flood level is 21,5 m (705 ft).

Dam's hydroelectric powerplant is operated by EDP (Energias de Portugal) - a Lisbon-headquartered, state-owned company established in 1976 via a merger of 14 nationalized Portuguese electricity companies. The power plant's max capacity is 117 MW, with an average annual electricity generation 399 GWh. It contains 3 turbine-generators, each with capacity 39 MW and max water flow 450 m3/s.

The lock (that serves leisure riverboats, cruise ships, and cargo barges) is on the dam's left side. The lock has the capacity to handle vessels with max LOA length 83 m (272 ft), max width 11,4 m (374 ft), max load-draught 3,8 m (125 ft), and max weight 2500 tons.

As cruise port, Cais da Lixa was included in the 2020 schedule of the Arosa Cruises-owned newbuild ship Arosa Alva (2019-launched). The next table shows riverboat's 8-day cruise tour itinerary (roundtrip from homeport Oporto) as call ports and in-port times.

Prices started from ~USD 18900 per person (double occupancy cabin rates).