Praia da Calheta

• Outdoors
• Any age
• Children free
• Just turn up

The one stretch of sea on the main island shallow and calm enough for a three-year-old to stand up in, with a first-aid post and changing rooms on the sand.

The sand shelves slowly and the two breakwaters take the swell out, which is the whole family case for driving an hour west. There is no children's pool and no need for one; what is missing is shade, and there is almost none - the parasol concession is the only answer and it packs up with the season. Canoe and board hire at the marina next door sets its own minimum ages, so ask there rather than assuming.

Worth knowing: Lifeguards, first aid and the sunbed concession run the bathing season, roughly June to September, and the municipality publishes neither the exact dates nor the hours. Outside those months treat it as an unsupervised beach, however calm it looks.

Opening hours

The operator publishes no opening hours. Phone before you drive.

Prices

Free to walk on. Sunbeds and parasols are a paid concession in season; the marina car park is paid and fills by late morning in August.

Getting there

Prices and opening times change without notice, and on this island they change often. Everything here carries the date it was checked in our research notes; if a place has moved or closed, tell us and we will fix it.