Praia dos Salgados / Algarve / Portugal

Located south west of Albuferia lies the natural beach of Praia dos Salgados in Portgual's popular Algarve region. The beach is surrounded by housing developments and hotels, golf courses and restaurants and is a popular tourist destination. The beach is long and attracts kite surfers of all abilities. The season is from March to October although off season is possible.

The beach is long with lovely golden sand and dunes and there is plenty of room to launch and land a kite. It gets very busy with holidaymakers in the summer months of June, July and August and time restrictions may well apply, especialy at weekends and peak times.

As with all of this coast the predominant winds are thermal south westerlies with a speed of between 10-12 knots. The rest of the year sees easterly directions (Levante) which come over from Tarifa and are anywhere between 10-22 knots. The water quality is clean and the water is nearly always choppy although you can get some nice waves with the levante during the winter months. The summers are warm and you can get by with just a pair of shorts in the summer and a wetsuit during the rest of the year.

There is parking here and accommodation. There are also shower and toilet facilities on the supervised beach as well as places to buy refreshments. For supplies head back into Albufeira where you will find a good choice of shops, bars and restaurants. The nightlife is pretty good there too, if you fancy partying the night away.

It is pretty safe here but be watchful for other surfers during the summer months and swimmers in the water. There are also likely to be jet skis in the water.