Beaches
There are so many lovely interesting sandy beaches in the Algarve that you will find amongst them a good selection on which to enjoy your holiday. Everyone has their favorites and these are often hidden away from the more popular ones! When you see the sign “Praia” this means in Portuguese “beach”.
They beaches vary from the small sheltered coves to broad endless stretches of sea washed sand. Equally the sea bed near to the beach can vary from a comfortable shallow shelve to a more sudden drop! In general, the rule is that as you travel from east to west along the coast, the beaches become more subject to seasonal currents. As some excellent beaches are not immediately accessible from the holiday towns we recommend that these are very worthwhile to seek out.
Quarteira
- has a long flat beach with plenty of loungers and umbrellas available.
Parking can be difficult. This beach can get very busy at the "town
end" from early in the morning. Some people hate Quateira thinking
it a bit too "Blackpoolish" but the Council have spent a lot
of money cleaning it and building a superb, palm tree lined promende.
There are plenty of shops, bars, cafes and good restauants. There is a
working harbour and the fish market with its freshly landed catches is
open to the public every morning.
Vilamoura - the beach is down by the marina - there is car parking (some shady). Flat and long with golden sand there may no be much in the way of amenities but it is pretty unspoilt.
Falesia - this was always our favourite Algarvean beach. It stretches some 5km from Vilamoura to the pretty village of Olhos de Agua. The drawback is that there has been a huge amount of development in the area and it can get very busy and parking is not abundant. There is a great beach bar.
Quinta
do Lago - the beach is reached by driving right to the end of the
development. There is a shady carpark (charge payable). The beach is accessed
across a long, modern, wooden bridge. As you can see from this photo it
is long flat and sandy. There is a beach bar.
The road between Almancil & Quateira has signposts to lots of little unsophisticated small beaches (Praia) which are worth exploring.