Praia Grande - 2.75Km

Praia Grande is at the western end of the vast 5.5Km stretch of beach between Albufeira and Armacao de Pera. At the back of Praia Grande beach is an extensive bank of sand dunes, agricultural plains and isolated rocky outcrops which are rich in marine macro fossils. The sand dunes and plains behind Praia Grande are flanked in the west by the Alcantarilha stream and in the east by the Salgados lagoon and wetlands. Between the dunes and plains is a new (2022) boardwalk which runs parallel to the beach and has links to the beach.

This is the first of 3 circular walks which are part board walk and part beach. The 3 walks cover the beach between Armacao de Pera and Gale, which, whilst a continuous stretch of of sand, is actually 3 seperate beaches, Praia Grande, Praia dos Salgados and Praia da Gale. You can combine the 3 walks to make longer walks, do any 2 adjacent walks as a 'figure of 8' or just do the board walk or beach if you prefer. The first walk covers Praia Grande. If you walk the beach section it will be easier towards low tide, not within 2-3 hours either side of High Tide. That being said there is no possibility of being cut off on the beach at High Tide, however there is a rocky outcrop which which you can't pass within 2 hours (ish) of High Tide, see piccie below.

There are places to park at either end of the walk, the google links and pictures for which are shown below. Finding either car park isn't obvious as both are at the end of a dirt track.

Parking at the Western end of the walk.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/5Dmk9BEUoY41XQdh9

Parking at the Eastern end of the walk.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/npHGBi3orZLdR4BN8

For the purposes of describing the walk I'll assume you're starting at the westerly end, nearest to Armacao de Pera and doing the walk in an anticlockwise direction. From the road where you've parked you'll see a board walk to the left and right as well as one towards the beach, as you can see in the picture above.

You can walk to the right, however the boardwalk at the moment is a dead end at a lagoon after about 1/2 Km, however I understand there are plans to build a bridge and extend the boardwalk to Armacao de Pera.

So take the board walk towards the beach where you'll find Carlos's beach bar and restaurant, a great place for refreshments at the end of the walk. From Carlos's walk along the beach towards the east, you'll find the sand closest to the sea is much easier to walk on. After 1Km you'll see steps to the board walk that look like this:

Walk up the steps on the board walk, over the sand dunes, until you come to a T on the boardwalk, turn left and after 1Km you'll be back where you started.

Some piccies taken from the walk.