Praia da Bordeira

Bordeira is on the west coast of the Algarve, near Carrapateira, inside the Costa Vicentina natural park. It faces the open Atlantic and is nothing like the sheltered limestone coves an hour east — this is the other Algarve, and the difference is total.

The beach is defined by a river. A stream reaches the sea here across a broad sand plain, and its channel moves; the lagoon it forms behind the beach fills and drains and shifts position from year to year. Behind that lies a dune system running inland, and behind that the park's cliffs and boardwalks. Winter storms rearrange the whole arrangement, so the beach in April is not the beach of the previous October.

The sand is golden and the swell is serious — this coast takes Atlantic weather without shelter and is a well-known surf destination for that reason. Rip currents are strong, lifeguard cover is seasonal and limited, and the water is cold, in the high teens Celsius even in summer, because of upwelling along this coast.

Development is almost nothing: a car park, a wooden walkway over the dunes, a seasonal café and the village of Carrapateira inland. The Rota Vicentina walking route passes along the cliffs above. Amado, a few minutes south, is the surf beach proper and where most schools run their lessons; the two share a car park culture of vans and boards and are usually visited on the same day.

A river mouth, a dune field and the Atlantic arriving with nothing in the way. Bordeira is a surf beach and a walking beach and not really a swimming one — the rips here are why the Costa Vicentina has the drowning figures it does. The lagoon behind the sand is where families sit, and it is the right answer for anyone under ten.