Praia do Evaristo to Praia da Coelha - 3.6 Km

This walk has lots going for it, beaches, cliff top paths and some pretty special views, it isn't too long but is scrambly in parts. It is mostly on a rough sandy path, and for the scrambly parts you will need to be fairly agile, if you use a walking stick or have joint problems (hip, knee etc) then this probably isn't the walk for you. The 3.6 Km, which is there and back, is very approximate, there are multiple paths you can take, either made by previous walkers or by the rain and you will want to make a diversion or two to take in the scenery. The walk passes Praia do Castelo which has parking and could be used as a part way stage to make 2 smaller walks, although Evaristo to Castelo is probably not much more than 1.25 Km there and back.

Check the tide before you start, as if the tide is high enough you may not be able to get beyond Praia do Castelo (see the description further on).

Take care of the sandstone cliff edges, if you take a wrong path some end at the cliff edge. The cliffs are eroding so don't go to close to the edge. The sign below is everywhere and is serious. Also take care of any fencing, mostly it isn't to be trusted.

As much as possible I'll include piccies so you know you're on the right track. Start and end point car parks are:

The West end of the walk the car park is next to the beach at Praia do Evaristo. There's 3 separate car parks and plenty of parking.

https://goo.gl/maps/hpTWGU75GM2Tgage9

The East end of the walk has a couple of parking options, a small car park next to the beach and a much bigger car park which is a bit of a walk down a track to the beach.

https://goo.gl/maps/3pA9txeicFwCstQq6

This is the car park next to the beach.

I'm going to start the walk from Evaristo. From the car park walk down to the beach, past the restaurant and you'll see a path leading up the hill. You can walk directly from the car park but Evaristo is such a nice beach it seems a pity not to take in the views from the beach before you start.

As you walk up the hill make sure you look back to check the view of Evaristo beach as you go. There are options for the path but finding your way is easy enough, I stick to the path closest to the sea to get better views without it being to close and dangerous. Before long you'll get you first view of Praia do Castelo.

Follow the path down to the beach where you'll have the option of a path behind the beach or walking across the beach. There are several options to get down to the beach, the first via some steps that are a bit on the steep side.

Or you can carry on around the path where you'll find another route to the beach behind a hut. There is a gulley down the middle of the path which could make you think it's not the right way, it is.

There is a path which continues behind the beach but this leads to a very steep path up the the cliff top. It's too steep and for me bordering on dangerous so I personally wouldn't attempt it.

Assuming you're crossing the beach to continue the walk you'll see the cliff extends onto the beach and at high tide there is no beach to to get past this point (without getting soggy). I would suggest making sure you don't arrive at this point until 2 hours after high tide. Hopefully there will be beach at this point and as it's a falling tide you'll be sure to be able to walk back and still have beach to walk on. The alternative is the steep hill on the path at the back of the beach or cutting the walk short and returning to Evaristo.

There is no way back to the path from the Easterly end of Castelo beach so you'll need to walk up the steps past Castelo Beach Club towards the car park.

Before you get to the car park take the steps to the left as shown below.

At the top of the steps cross the car park and take one of the paths, it doesn't really matter which. This will take you away from the cliffs and scenery but not for long.

The alternative is to take a path from the end of the car park closest to the sea, however this will rapidly lead into a pretty scrambly path. This is not horrendously difficult as long as you're pretty agile and take care. The picture below gives you an idea of the ground if you take this route. You can just see a chap in the distance, that's where you're heading for.

Assuming you take the path from the top of the car park, before carrying on it is worth walking down across the car park towards the sea where you find a promontory called Ponta do Castelo (which just means extremity or tip) which has a great view of Praia do Castelo.

Back to the path from the top of the car park, there are a couple to choose from, which are pretty straight forward and lead to the same point. As soon as you can (it will be obvious) you can head back towards the sea to once again take in the splendid views. You need to make diversions from the path you've chosen to peninsulas which overlook the beaches between Castelo and Coelha, but it is worth it. The first is Praia dos Calhaus, which means pebble beach.

Praia dos Calhaus is followed by Praia da Fraternidade, which translates as Fraternity Beach, and Praia da Mare das Porcas, which translates as Sea of Nuts. There must be a history to the beach names, but I'm not able to add any more detail. The three beaches are accessible to explore and enjoy if you want to.

There are a variety of options for paths leading towards Praia da Coelha, I took the following piccies on the path I took which might help.

Once you're past Praia da Mare das Porcas the landscape looks like the piccie below. You're heading for the fence you can see in the distance, however you can't walk directly there, you need to go up and around. You'll see from the piccie below the path will lead you naturally up towards the white building at the top of the hill.

From the top of the hill follow the path around until you reach the fenced path that looks like this.

Follow this fenced path, enjoying the views as you go, which will lead you to your first view of Praia da Coelha.

Continue the fenced path which will lead you to the slope and steps down to the road that leads from the car park to the beach. It looks like this.

The path down initially is a bit scrambly before turning onto wooden steps down to the restaurant and beach.

At this point it's a short walk up the hill back to the Praia de Coelha car park and the end of the walk.