We are not sun worshippers by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, we have made our way to a praia or two during our time in Portugal. Usually we visit beaches close to where we live in the Eastern Algarve. Portuguese people ADORE the Algarve for the beaches, and people from all over the world flock to the South of Portugal for sun, waves, and sand.

Praia de Faro(Faro Beach) – Faro: Faro was our very first excursion to an Algarve beach. Our Ukrainian friends love it, our Portuguese friend Jorge loves it, and based on the lack of available parking spaces, most people seem to love it. When a friend with a car invites us to the beach, more often than not we find ourselves at Faro Beach. Sometimes we go for lunch at O Paquete and enjoy the natural ambiance of waves and wind with our food, (they have awesome grilled fish). We always eat outdoors. Sometimes we walk on the sand, watch surfers, or have a cool drink on a hot day at one of the tiny beach bars. We have even joined Jorge for his speed walking exercise circuit on the trails at Faro Beach. The beach is situated near the Faro airport and it is spectacular to sit with bare feet stuck in the sand while other people are inside a congested plane on the way to somewhere else.

Praia da Armona (Armona Beach) – Armona Island: Armona was the first Ria Formosa island we visited and we have returned on several occasions. We take the 20 minute ferry ride from Olhão for €3.70, but there are other options including water taxis. I find the ferry ride quite enjoyable, but during the busy season it gets very full. Near the ferry dock on Armona you will find shops, restaurants, and bars. The beach is a 15-20 minute walk and the wooden boardwalk path is well maintained. We have some friends who love one of the restaurants closer to the beach and make the trip to the Armona just for the food. Further down the path you will find an idyllic beach bar offering shaded seating, cold drinks, and food. Armona has a very relaxed feel and we enjoy our time there.

Praia da Coelha (Rabbit Beach) – Sesmarias: Last July our friend invited us to an impromptu beach day west of Albufeira. The journey by car took almost 1 hour and we silently wondered if it would live up to the effort to get there. My first impression was that the beach is small and felt a bit congested. The surrounding cliffs are striking and very different than the long rolling open vistas of the Ria Formosa Island beaches. We ate an early dinner at the beach restaurant. The food was good quality and seating was comfortable with a beautiful view of the beach. Eventually we waded past an outcropping and located a smaller, more isolated beach. It was truly a hidden gem, like we had found a private beach or the movie set of a castaway movie. If we lived moderately closer, I would definitely return to Rabbit Beach.

Praia da Ilha da Culatra (Culatra Island Beach) – Culatra Island: At the end of May we tried to bust stress from language class finals with an afternoon trip to Culatra Island. You can take a 30 minute ferry ride from Olhão to reach the island, and it is €4.20 for a roundtrip ticket. I packed some snacks, books, a blanket, towels, sunscreen, and our beach umbrella (Andrew who had to carry the overstuffed duffle bag would say I packed way too much stuff) and we were off. Once you land, it is about a 20 minute walk to the beach, but when you finally arrive, it is well worth it. The island has plenty of restaurants, cafes, a candy shop, and a mini market in case you didn’t bring everything and the kitchen sink like I did. Once we arrived at the ocean, the beach wasn’t overpopulated, even though we went on a Sunday, and if you are seeking solitude, just keep walking. The beach stretches 2.5 miles in either direction. You can even walk from the Village of Culatra to the neighboring village of Farol (you can also ride the ferry directly to Farol Island).

Praia do Barril (Barrel Beach) – Santa Luzia: In mid June Andrew’s cousin Elsa visited from Alaska for a post high school graduation trip. After a long flight to Portugal from the US, we scheduled some much needed rest and relaxation at the beach. Barril beach is absolutely breathtaking with fine white sand and gorgeous aqua colored water. It has a cemetery made up of hundreds of tuna boat anchors. This makes for amazing photos and gives it a bit more personality in comparison to many of the other beaches in the Algarve. Much like Armona and Culatra, you can stroll for 15-20 minutes on foot if you choose, however Barril also has a small touristic train to the beach for €1.50 each way. We took the train and it was a nice relaxing ride. There are charming shops, restaurants, cafes, beach bars, and you can even rent equipment for water sports.

Praia das Hangares (Hangar Beach) – Between Culatra and Farol Island: Cousin Elsa was eager to try her hand at stand up paddle board (SUP) in the ocean since she had only done so in Minnesota lakes. Initially we entertained the idea of renting an inflatable board and backpack and heading to one of the islands via the ferry from Olhão. It sounded like a pain to haul another heavy pack around – I could still hear Andrew’s angst ringing in my ears from that previous trip to Culatra, so we headed down to the recreational marina to see what we could find. I am so glad we chose Plan B because it ended up being way better than I could have imagined. We located a kiosk for Fun and Sun Tours. For the unbelievable price of €35 per person we took a private boat ride to and from Hangar Beach and played in the ocean for 2.5 hours with our choice of water toy. Andrew and I opted for a two person kayak and Elsa got her fill of SUP. We definitely recommend Fun and Sun for an active afternoon of water adventures.