Praia da Balaia

Praia da Balaia
Beach
Country	Portugal
State	Faro District
Region	Algarve
District	Barlavento Algarvio
Municipality	Albufeira
Location	Albufeira
- coordinates	PT 37°5′17.1″N 8°12′38.5″W / 37.088083°N 8.210694°WCoordinates: PT 37°5′17.1″N 8°12′38.5″W / 37.088083°N 8.210694°W
Material	Golden fine sand, Low cliffs rock formations creating recesses coves
Location of Praia da Balaia

Praia da Balaia is a small satellite beach at the eastern end of its larger neighbour, Praia Santa Eulália,^[1] on the Atlantic south coast of the Algarve. Its is within the municipality of Albufeira and is 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of the town of Albufeira and 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) west of the coastal village of Olhos de Água.^[2]

Description

The beach is set into a small cove formed by recesses in the low cliffs and rock formations. The beach also includes several further sandy recesses running eastwards, some of which are only accessible during the very low tides. These smaller beaches are also known as Praia do Spout Silvas,^[3] a name rarely used. The western part of Balaia can be accessed via a set of wooden boardwalks and steps which lead down the side of the cliffs from the Holiday developments that lay to the north of this part of the shoreline. The steps are often in a poor state of repair due to storm damage.^[4]

Neighbouring Beach locations

References

1. Portuguese civilian survey: Sheet 52B Albufeira. Publishers: Instituto Geográfico Português (Portugal Civilian Survey). Scale:1:50,000. ISBN 972-8867-11-5
2. The Algarve. Sheet Map showing the Praia dos Aveiros location – Grid L6 (Rough guides – Penguin Group). 2010. ISBN 9781848364981.
3. "Praia da Balaia". References to name variants of the beach - In Portuguese. Play Ocean ©2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
4. "Praia da Balaia". References to the wooden steps and the storm damage - In Portuguese. Play Ocean ©2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.