Beaches nearby
The weather was one of the factors for me to go abroad and to Portugal. My application process was quite a slow one and my first plan was to go to Castelo Branco maybe in January but this changed in November and it changed to better: Castelo Branco is located in the eastern Portugal and now suddenly I had a chance to go to more western city, Leiria. The seaside is the thing that really excites me in Portugal. “Wow, I might see some sharks!”, I was thinking but no… There are no sharks in the shores of Portugal so there’s no need to be worried. Portugal is surprisingly (to me) a country that has recorded zero shark attacks during the history and even my luck can’t be so rotten that I would record the first one.
Surfing and tanning are two things I want to experience here in Portugal. Tanning is all common thing to me as we usually enjoy great and warm summers in Finland. Surfing on the other hand is not common to me as our ocean is too calm for anything like that. Well that’s all about me once again. Now I’m going to introduce you to some of the beaches nearby. They are basically all located 20-30 kilometers from the city of Leiria so they are easily reachable.
Praia São Pedro de Moel
São Pedro de Moel is located about 21 kilometers west from the city of Leiria.
The water is cold and has strong waves and big rocks in it. The place is not ideal for swimming or tanning but it is used for body and surfboarding and you are also able to spot some fishermen on the rocks.
For those who enjoy outdoor sports, there is a tennis court and several bike paths available. On the beach there is a playground, usually with two volley ball nets.
There are several hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars to accommodate tourists as well as two campsites.
It’s a beautiful place and in here you can really see the power of the sea in those waves. I wasn’t that tempted to go to the water when I was here but the fishing thing is really interesting and I might just try it out at some point.
You can also try the surfing here in surfing classes.
Praia Velha
The old beach in São Pedro de Moel has wooden walkways built on the sand and because of that it is a fantastic choice for a simple beach walk.
It has some beach facilities that meet the needs of bathers, a car park and can also count on the possibility of making a bike ride through the existing bike path parallel to the road.
You can also simply admire the sea and fill your lungs with fresh air of pine trees surrounding the beach.
The old beach holds some parties during the summertime and the Old Beach Bar is a really nice place to have a snack or cool drink during the traveling.
Praia da Nazaré
Nazaré beach is the most well-known one of the beaches close to Leiria. It’s located about 38 kilometers southwest from the city of Leiria so you can reach it by car in about 30 minutes.
The beach is famous for its women who used to wear skirts with seven petticoats (one for every day or one for every color of the rainbow…). Also the biggest wave ever surfed was recorded in Nazaré surfed by Garrett McNamara.
Until not too long ago, fishermen were still seen using oxen to pull their brightly painted boats from the ocean and even today many locals still wear their characteristic traditional costumes: the fishermen have check shirts and trousers, and the women wear several layers of petticoats. The fishing boats are Phoenician in design with bright colors and eyes painted on the vessels, supposedly with the magical power to avert storms.
The beach baths, fully integrated in the urban area by the marginal houses, is bounded on the north by the promontory and the south and the haven of water, keeping the summer traditional cloth tents with striped strong colors. The beach is sometimes washed by wild and strong waves that make it ideal for swimming, surfing and bodyboarding.
Praia da Vieira
The beach of Vieira de Leiria is located in a small town of Vieira de Leiria about 25 kilometers northwest from the city of Leiria. This small town is known for its traditional fishing methods. There’s a Fisherman’s Chapel, one of the rare examples of religious buildings constructed in wood in 1973. One of the most important things of this town, which attracts many tourists, is its cuisine, where they highlight the dishes based on seafood and when talking about seaside: you can definitely say that the fish is fresh.
The beach is also popular with all kind of surfers: bodyboarding, surfing and due to its constant northern winds, kite surfing. This beach is dotted with hotels, restaurants, bars, terraces, shops and a water park. The beach also is long and sandy which invites people to take walks and hikes along the beach. It is bordered to the north by the river Lis and to the south by the pine forest of Leiria.
https://www.facebook.com/Mariparque
The Facebook page of the water park in Vieira de Leiria.
Praia das Pedras Negras
Black Rocks Beach has a landscape where there are wooden walkways through the dunes, protecting them while allowing the vacationer good access to the beach. On this beach you are able to experience the human presence with the nature. It is a beach that runs along a wide stretch of sand and has the sea as a backdrop.
The beach facilities, meet the needs of swimmers and a bar with terrace allows relaxing during the evening to watch the sunset.
The sea conditions are favorable for surfing and bodyboarding.
Praia do Pedrógão
The Pedrógão beach is 1400 meters long and about five kilometers north from the Vieira de Leiria beach. It’s been named after the huge rocky outcrop that intersects the extensive beach, south of the place that now works as a spur. It was this rocky outcrop has been withdrawn rock needed for the construction of jetties at the mouth of Lys. We can divide the beaches in Pedrógão North (where the houses) and the South Pedrógão – the sandy north is much higher (sometimes the beach of Pedrógão South comes to disappear due to the advance of the sea.
There have been recently found evidence showing that the area has been inhabited since the prehistoric times. The beach recently received the award of “accessible beach” as a result of the investments made by the local authority under the beach access by people with with reduced mobility.
This beach is surrounded by a marginal with restaurants and bars. During the beach season they become the centre of attention in this resort. During summertime there are often held concerts and different kinds of sporting events such as championships of beach handball which attracts hundreds of young people to the area.
Praia Parades da Vitória
Walls of Victory (Parades da Vitória) is a small coastal town located about 25 kilometers southwest from the city of Leiria. The village is known for its beach, camping site and the procession annual held August 15 in honor of Our Lady of Victory.
The place-name “Walls” is relatively common and usually indicates that the villagers who gave their names found “walls” or “walls” ie ruins of previous settlements whose name was not memory.
So Walls of Victory, Walls Valley and the beach Walls are place names that designate the same village situated on the northern coast of the county of Alcobaça Pataias parish.
The beach Walls, generally oriented north-south and Northeast-Southeast, has a length of approximately 2500 meters quite varying in width with the tides and also throughout the year. From north to south it is divided popularly into four sections: Castle, Walls, Mijaretes and Mina
Its white sand comes from the wind deposition and large movements of the sea which proceeds at a constant silting between the months of May to September and the intense erosion wear in the months of November to April. It is cut by the walls of river, which over the year, winds along the beach, pushed by the wind, but always finding the way to the sea. During the summer the open sea is rough when it’s winding from the north. The parallelism of the waves against the shoreline and features of the seabed provides surfers and bodyboarders excellent spots.
Praia da Polvoeira
Praia da Polvoeira is about 1,3 kilometers long sandy beach located about 25 kilometers northwest from the city of Leiria. It takes about half an hour to get there by car/bus.
During the spring time this place is ideal for a walk and enjoy the sights. From South the beach is bordered by a natural rock formation with a shape that reminds of a pontoon. Access is by a long wooden staircase in the north from the broad ground that supports parking.
Praia da Concha
Praia da Concha is a small and cozy beach that has been named after its unique format of sand that resembles a seashell in Portuguese: concha.
Collected between the rock surrounding the entire stretch of sand this friendly bay appears on a sea that hides more rocky areas at high tide.
Wooden structures surrounding the beach, easy access to the sand and allow you to have a more lofty perspective around the ocean and surrounding area.
Praia das Valeiras
This beach is also located in Marinha Grande and is a very extensive beach. The cliff is high and sandy nature.
The sea is characterized by almost constant stirring which makes it challenging for swimming.
In the northern area close to a stream there is a staircase that judging by its appearance and advancing vegetation has fallen into past.
This is a modest and well accessible beach both from São Pedro de Moel (the north) and the housing cluster of Water Madeiros (the South).
Praia do Samouca
This beach is yet again in the county of Marinha Grande and located northwest from the city of Leiria. The Samouco beach also known as Samouco Eye Beach features an extensive areal language with about 5.4 kilometers of sand.
The dune system is vast and is in perfect condition showing high dunes on the sea front. The water is often busy with swimmers.
The natural beauty of this place is exacerbated by the National Forest of Leiria or Pinhal of the King to the east. This beach is frequented by families who make picnics in parks picnic.
Praia de São Martinho do Porto
São Martinho do Porto is located about 49 kilometers South-West from the city of Leiria. This beach stretches along a beautiful bay washed by the blue sea. Due to its characteristics this is an ideal place for people with children and for those who like water sports.
The bay of Sao Martinho do Porto is the last vestige of an ancient Gulf that by the sixteenth century extended to Alfeizerão and is open to the ocean through a bar about 250 meters wide between the hills of Santana to the south and the lighthouse to the north.
In the avenue, cosmopolitan center of the village there are multiple terraces, shops, bars and restaurants specializing in almost all flavors sea: the steamed lobster, stuffed spider crab, lobster the, sea bass, golden and the grilled sole or grilled sardines.
Praia do Baleal
Praia do Baleal is in a peninsula located north from Peniche and about 87 kilometers southwest from the city of Leiria. Baleal is a vacation resort with a potential for water sports. Due to its standard format peninsula on the north side of the narrow strip of sand connecting the spit baleal the mainland which is on the beach can be simultaneously back and forward and the sea. The only road access to the town has nice bars and restaurants with outdoor seating which are a great alternative for colder days. Sea is a little dangerous and windy during winter. On the south side the sea is calmer and the wind is smoother especially during summer.
Summary
So there are many options available for you as you can see. This is a thing that I will be updating during my stay: I might have missed some beaches and I also want to add my own photos of every place I have visited. So far I have only briefly visited Nazaré and São Pedro de Moel but in the next weekend I will visit some more. When the spring gets ahead I’m planning to take a whole weekend trip at the seaside and really explore the whole seaside.
More informative list about beaches in Leiria district can be found here:
http://pt.rentalia.com/praias-leiria/
