With the 2024 beach bathing season upon us, lets find out which beaches of the Algarve have been awarded a blue flag! If you’re a beach lover than you’re probably aware of the famous blue flag flying over many of the best beaches in the world. These blue flag beaches must meet exceptional standards regarding safety, access, water quality, facilities, and waste management. With the recent announcement of all 2024 blue flag beaches we’ve now updated our list! For 2024, Portugal now has a total of 440 Blue Flag areas, including beaches, marinas and boats.
Despite its small size, Portugal ranks sixth in the total of blue flag beaches for any one country. Specifically, Portugal has 398 blue flag beaches, with 89 of them found in the Algarve. Which makes the Algarve one of the densest regions of Blue Flags beaches in the world.
Blue Flag Beaches in the East Algarve
The east Algarve is widely considered to be the coastline from the capital Faro, up until the Spanish border in Vila Real de Santo Antonio.
Blue Flag Beaches in Faro Municipality
Within the municipality of Faro there are four blue flag beaches:
- Faro – Mar (Praia de Faro)
- Barreta (Praia da Barreta)
- Ilha do Farol (Mar)
- Culatra (Praia da Culatra)
Blue Flag Beaches in Olhão
The municipality of Olhão currently has four blue flag beaches:
- Armona-Mar (Praia da Armona Mar)
- Armona-Ria (Praia da Armona Ria)
- Fuseta-Mar (Praia da Fuseta)
- Fuseta-Ria (Praia da Ilha da Fuseta)
Blue Flag Beaches in Tavira
The municipality of Tavira, boasts four blue flag beaches:
- Barril (Praia do Barril)
- Terra Estreita (Praia da Terra Estreita)
- Ilha de Tavira-Mar (Praia da Ilha de Tavira)
- Cabanas-Mar (Praia de Cabanas)
Blue Flag Beaches in Castro Marim
Within the municipality of Castro Marim, there are three blue flag beaches:
- Praia de Alagoa/Altura
- Praia Verde
- Praia do Cabeço
Blue Flag Beaches in Vila Real de Santo António
In the far east of the Algarve, within the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, you’ll find four blue flag beaches.
- Manta Rota
- Lota
- Monte Gordo
- Santo António (Praia de Santo António)
Blue Flag Beaches in the Central Algarve
The central Algarve is usually described as the region that encompasses everything east of the Arade River (Portimão) all the way to the start of the Ria Formosa in Faro.
Blue Flag Beaches in Loulé
The municipality of Loulé has ten blue flag beaches:
- Vilamoura
- Quarteira (Praia de Quateira)
- Forte Novo
- Almargem
- Loulé Velho
- Vale do Lobo
- Garrão Poente/Duna
- Garrão Nascente
- Ancão
- Quinta do Lago
Albufeira
The town with the most blue flags is the tourist hot spot of Albufeira, with a remarkable 25 Blue Flag beaches in its municipality:
- Salgados
- Galé Oeste
- Galé Este
- Manuel Lourenço
- Evaristo
- Castelo
- Coelha
- São Rafael
- Arrifes
- Peneco
- Pescadores (Praia dos Pescadores)
- Inatel
- Alemães
- Aveiros
- Oura (Praia da Oura)
- Oura-Leste (Praia da Oura Leste)
- Santa Eulália
- Maria Luísa
- Olhos de Água
- Belharucas
- Falésia-Açoteias
- Falésia-Alfamar
- Rocha Baixinha
- Rocha Baixinha-Poente
- Rocha Baixinha-Nascente
Blue Flag Beaches in Silves
Within The municipality of Silves you’ll find two blue flag beaches:
- Armação de Pêra
- Grande Poente (Praia Grande)
Blue Flag Beaches in Lagoa
The municipality of Lagoa features six blue flag beaches:
Blue Flag Beaches in the West Algarve
Continuing our list from east to west, we lastly come to the west Algarve. The west Algarve covers everything west of Portimão.
Blue Flag Beaches in Portimão
The city of Portimão features six Blue Flag beaches in its municipality:
- Alvor Poente
- Alvor Nascente – Praia dos Três Irmãos
- Vau
- Três Castelos (Praia dos Tres Castelos)
- Rocha (Praia da Rocha)
- Marina (Praia da Marina de Portimão)
Blue Flag Beaches in Lagos
There are four Blue Flag beaches in the municipality of Lagos:
- Luz (Praia da Luz)
- Porto de Mós
- Praia de Dona Ana
- Meia Praia
Blue Flag Beaches in Vila do Bispo
There are eleven Blue Flag beaches in the municipality of Vila do Bispo:
- Burgau (Praia do Burgau)
- Cordoama
- Castelejo
- Beliche
- Tonel
- Mareta
- Martinhal
- Ingrina
- Zavial
- Salema (Praia da Salema)
- Almádena – Cabanas Velha
Blue Flag Beaches in Aljezur
Within the municipality of Aljezur are four blue flag beaches:
- Praia de Odeceixe Mar
- Praia da Amoreira
- Praia de Monte Clérigo
- Praia da Arrifana
What about all the Other Beaches in the Algarve?
Portugal has over 850km of coastline, making the number of beaches almost impossible to count. Which means there are hundreds of excellent beaches not on this list of blue flag beaches in the Algarve.
That’s the tricky thing about Blue Flag beaches, their strict requirements mean many beaches don’t make the list, in fact one of our absolute favourite beaches Cacela Velha is not a blue flag beach.
Why? Well for a start, access is difficult for not fully abled people, there’s also no toilets on the beach itself. Despite it being lifeguarded and having the same water quality of its neighbouring Praia Verde, Cacela Velha is unlike to be awarded a blue flag. This means the list above is not everything, and you should not disregard beaches just because they don’t have blue flag! That said, the list is a great starting point for anyone travelling, especially families with young children, or people with mobility issues.
What’s your favourite blue flag beach in the Algarve? Let us know in the comments!
Source: https://www.blueflag.global/all-bf-sites
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