Where the Alvor estuary meets the sea, the water sits warm, flat and barely shin-deep at low tide — small children can splash about while the Atlantic proper rumbles harmlessly beyond the sandbar. The boardwalk through the dunes makes a lovely pushchair stroll, and the village behind has unpretentious grilled-sardine lunches. Check the tide tables before you set out: the estuary side is at its paddling best in the two hours either side of low water.
Featured in Ten beaches with calm, shallow water for small swimmers · Family