Bordeira

Unlike Costa Vicentina's northern beaches, you can day-trip to Carrapateira from the Algarve. The powerful beach-breaks around here are popular with surfers, so the town offers everything from surf-schools to hostels. North of the headland, vast Praia da Bordeira is a potential big-wave spot. North to north-westerly blows cross-on to almost onshore, but the wind's never as strong as Sagres and only regularly breaks Force 4 in winter. In summer it's barely enough for large kites. There are hardly any rocks, but huge currents and shorebreak combined with a long hike to the water ensure that it's never really crowded. Sometimes a shallow lagoon forms a great little playground in the estuary behind the beach.