Best Beaches in Portugal: Algarve, Costa Vicentina, Comporta and Surf

1. Praia da Marinha, Algarve. A small cove under honeycombed cliffs and sea arches between Carvoeiro and Armacao de Pera, often called the most beautiful beach in the country. Steps lead down from a car park; there is no town, so come with water. Best for photos and snorkelling on calm days.
2. Benagil and the Algar de Benagil cave, Algarve. The Benagil sea cave, with a hole in its dome above a hidden beach, is the Algarve’s most famous sight. You can no longer land on that beach or swim to it (see the rules below), but boat and guided kayak trips still go in.
3. Praia de Dona Ana and Camilo, Lagos. Two cliff-backed coves a short walk from Lagos town, next to the sea stacks and grottoes of Ponta da Piedade. Busy in August; arrive before 10am.
4. Meia Praia, Lagos. Four kilometres of flat sand east of Lagos, with space even in August, beach bars and calm water for children.
5. Ilha de Tavira, Algarve. An 11 km barrier island reached by a short ferry from Tavira or Quatro Aguas. Praia do Barril at its western end, with its rows of old tuna-fishing anchors, is reached by a small train or a walk over the lagoon from Pedras d’El Rei.
6. Praia da Falesia, Albufeira. Six kilometres of sand under red and white cliffs between Albufeira and Vilamoura, long enough to walk for hours.
7. Odeceixe, Costa Vicentina. A river mouth meets the ocean at the Algarve’s border with the Alentejo, giving a calm river beach for children beside a surf beach. Odeceixe village has guesthouses and cafes.
8. Praia da Arrifana and Amado, Costa Vicentina. Surf beaches under high cliffs near Aljezur and Carrapateira, with surf schools and almost no development.
9. Comporta, Alentejo coast. White sand and dunes running south for kilometres past Carvalhal and Pego, about 1 hour 20 minutes by car from Lisbon. Rice paddies and stork nests inland; expensive beach restaurants on the sand. See Comporta.
10. Praia do Guincho, Cascais. A wide, wild beach under the Sintra hills, 9 km past Cascais, famous for wind and kitesurfing. Dangerous for swimming most days, superb for watching.
11. Porto Santo, Madeira. Nine kilometres of golden sand on Porto Santo, the small island north-east of Madeira, with calm, clear water warmer than the mainland’s west coast. Ferry from Funchal (about 2 hours 15 minutes) or a 15-minute flight.
12. Sao Martinho do Porto, Silver Coast. An almost circular bay with a narrow opening to the sea at Sao Martinho do Porto, so the water stays calm while the coast outside is pounded by surf. The best family beach north of Lisbon.

Since 13 August 2024, rules from Portugal’s National Maritime Authority (AMN) govern the caves at Benagil in the municipality of Lagoa. You may not land on or use the beach inside the Algar de Benagil, and you may not reach the cave by swimming or on floats, paddleboards or other flotation devices. Kayaks can enter only on guided tours, with one guide kayak for every six kayaks, and the number of boats and kayaks inside the cave at once and the length of visits are capped. The authorities repeated the swimming ban in 2025 after rescues, and operators that break the rules face fines from €300 up to €216,000. Rules can be tightened again, so check before you go with your operator or the Autoridade Maritima Nacional.

The practical options are boat trips from Benagil beach, Carvoeiro, Armacao de Pera or Portimao (typically 30 to 90 minutes, about €20 to €40) that drift into the cave, or a guided kayak or paddle tour from Benagil beach. For the view from above, walk the Percurso dos Sete Vales Suspensos, a 5.7 km cliff-top trail from Praia da Marinha to Vale Centianes that passes the fenced opening in the cave roof. Start early in summer; there is no shade.

From Lisbon, the easiest beach day is the Cascais train from Cais do Sodre, which runs along the river and coast in about 40 minutes for under €3 each way. Get off at Carcavelos for a long sandy surf beach, at Estoril for Tamariz and its seafront pool, or ride to the end at Cascais for the small town beaches of Conceicao and Rainha. Guincho is 9 km further by bus or bike path.

The coast of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park north of Cabo da Roca has dramatic, rough beaches: Praia da Ursa (a steep, unmarked scramble down), Adraga, Praia Grande and Magoito. Swim only where lifeguards are posted. South of the river, Costa da Caparica has 15 km of sand reached by bus from Lisbon in 30 to 45 minutes; the beaches get quieter the further south you go, and a small summer train links them. Further south, the Arrabida coves near Setubal (Portinho da Arrabida, Figueirinha, Galapinhos) have calm, turquoise water facing south, but car access is restricted in high summer, so check for the shuttle buses from Setubal. A ferry from Setubal crosses to the long sands of Troia in 15 to 25 minutes. For where to base yourself, see our Lisbon where-to-stay guide.

Portugal surfs year round, with the biggest swells from October to March and smaller, beginner-friendly waves in summer. Wetsuits are needed all year: a 3/2mm suit in summer, 4/3mm in winter.

• Ericeira: a fishing town 50 km north-west of Lisbon and a World Surfing Reserve, with reef and point breaks at Ribeira d’Ilhas, Coxos and Foz do Lizandro. Many surf schools and camps; lessons cost about €35 to €50 for a group class.
• Peniche and Baleal: a peninsula with breaks facing several directions, so somewhere usually works. Supertubos is a powerful beach break that hosts a World Surf League Championship Tour event, and Baleal’s sheltered bay suits beginners. Boats leave Peniche for the Berlenga island nature reserve in summer.
• Nazare: Nazare’s town beach is a calm family beach in summer. Praia do Norte, north of the headland, is where an underwater canyon focuses winter swells into waves of 20 to 30 metres, ridden by tow-in surfers. Watch from the fort and lighthouse on the headland (Forte de Sao Miguel Arcanjo), reached by the funicular from town, on a big-swell day between October and March.
• Costa Vicentina: Arrifana, Amado and Bordeira near Aljezur and Carrapateira have uncrowded beach breaks and surf camps.
• The Algarve south coast only gets waves in winter storms; Sagres, at the corner near Cape St Vincent, has beaches on both the south and west sides, so one side usually has surf.

Madeira is volcanic and steep, so it has few sandy beaches. Swim instead at the natural lava-rock pools of Porto Moniz on the north-west tip, at seafront lidos in Funchal (Lido and Ponta Gorda), at the black-pebble and black-sand beaches of Seixal and Porto da Cruz, or at Calheta and Machico, which have imported golden sand. For a real beach holiday, take the ferry to Porto Santo. Sea temperatures around Madeira run from about 18°C in winter to 23 to 24°C in late summer.

In the Azores, the water is about 17°C in spring and 22 to 23°C in August and September. On Sao Miguel the best sand is at Santa Barbara near Ribeira Grande (also a surf beach) and the black sand of Mosteiros, with Agua d’Alto and Ribeira Quente on the south coast. Ponta da Ferraria has a natural rock pool where a hot spring warms the sea, best at low tide. The Vila Franca islet, a flooded volcanic crater off Vila Franca do Campo, has a sheltered lagoon for swimming, with a daily cap on visitors and boats running only in summer. On Pico, Faial and Terceira, people swim from lava rocks and concrete bathing platforms called zonas balneares.

The Atlantic around mainland Portugal is cool: the west coast stays around 16 to 19°C even in August because of summer upwelling, and the northern beaches near Porto and Viana do Castelo can be colder still. The south coast of the Algarve is warmer and reaches 20 to 23°C in August and September, with the warmest water east of Faro. September is often the best month overall: the sea is at its warmest, the August crowds and Portuguese holiday rush are gone, and accommodation prices drop.

The official bathing season (epoca balnear) is set by each municipality and typically runs from June to mid or late September, with longer seasons at the busiest Algarve and Cascais beaches. Outside it, beaches have no lifeguards. July and August are crowded and pricey on the Algarve; book accommodation months ahead. In winter, the Algarve is mild (about 15 to 17°C by day) and good for cliff walks and golf, but too cold for most people to swim. For monthly weather, see our Portugal best time to visit guide.

Portugal’s Atlantic beaches have strong rip currents, shore breaks and sudden large waves, and drownings happen every summer, usually at unguarded beaches or outside the bathing season. Swim only at beaches with lifeguards and obey the flags:

• Green flag: swimming allowed.
• Yellow flag: no swimming; you may paddle at the water’s edge.
• Red flag: do not enter the water.
• Chequered flag: the beach is temporarily without lifeguards.

If a rip current pulls you out, do not swim against it: float, raise an arm and shout, or swim parallel to the beach until you are free of it, then swim back. Stay off cliff edges, which collapse, and do not sit at the foot of the Algarve’s sandstone cliffs, where rockfalls kill people. Watch for the Portuguese man o’ war, a blue jellyfish that washes up after westerly winds. The emergency number is 112; see our Portugal emergency page.

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