Praia João de Arens — Attraction in Portimão

Beautiful wild beach, very secluded and quiet most of the time.

No official maintained access or stairs. You will have to hike down to it or access by kayak. It is an UNOFFICIAL clothing-optional wild beach, so be prepared. But as a note: people claim it is a gay men's beach, but it is meant for all people. Including spearfishermen!

Some visitors can act a little hostile to women and/or people who don't want to remove their swimsuits. There is no law that says you must be naked, so you do not have to listen to these people. Perhaps people should relax a little. This beach is for "uso e costume naturista", but it is not officially nudist. It is tolerated and the tolerance is meant to work both ways when visiting unofficial (by the FPN) wild beaches. Men complaining about people wearing swimsuits here should keep in mind that there are only 3 official nude beaches in Algarve and this isn't one of them. You can complain there. Not here.

If you are uncomfortable with naked people or gay men, you shouldn't venture here, but otherwise, a public beach is a public beach and is allowed to be used by all. No one group owns the beach here.

The biggest problem is the same as many central Algarve beaches have now: "seaweed" or invasive red algal blooms (Asparagopsis armata) from Australia overtaking the coast due to climate change and ecosystem imbalance. It can make the beach unusable depending on the waves bringing it in. Sometimes, the entire sand is covered. When you swim out a little, you'll find a lot of it. Quite unpleasant when there is a lot of it, and is a sign of unhealthy water as it releases many toxins into the water to kill competiting organisms so swim and use the beach with caution when algae levels are high. This little cove can collect...

It is an official Naturist beach and there is a big sign saying, that it is a naturist beach. But still, there coming people with full swimming dress, pants and bikini, not feeling ashamed by sitting into the middle of naked people. I am wondering, that nobody told them. They are destroying this paradise by ignoring everything. I asked them, why they come to a naturist beach. The answer: What do you want, we have nothing against the naked people here. Speechless.. You can watch, as others feel bad, also taking cloth then and people coming to the beach, dont want to be naked anymore. The naturiyt feeling goes down to zero. Thats a shame. They have a choice of more then 80 beaches around and coming right to a beach, where people wants to be nude on an official, governmental naturist beach. People who going there and experiencing the same thing, should directly say something and not...

Absolutely breathtaking area! Took a bit of walking around the perimeter to figure out how to descend to the beach, but was happy to do so because it's so beautiful and scenic.

Gorgeous clear water, rocky coves, caves to explore and fish to see when snorkeling.

Only thing I'll note: based on reviews I assumed this was a naturist beach, with a gay section through the cave. I've not found this to be the case. Myself and my boyfriend were often one of only two, or three, naked groups both times we visited, and definitely the minority as quite a few people are there this July. Many kayakers also dock on the beach, and boats stop in the bay, so it can feel a little exposing. The supposed gay section didn't feel very gay either bar the odd couple.

Even so, absolute must see. It's a glorious area. Also as a top tip for folks without cars - an Uber is less than 5eu...