Map › Portugal › Algarve - Lagos/Alvor › Praia de Porto de Mós
Algarve · Lagos · Faro
Praia de Porto de Mós
also known as Porto de Mós, Porto de Mos
Nearby Meia Praia 4 km · Ria de Alvor (Alvor Lagoon) 7 km · Praia da Rocha 14 km · Praia do Amado 21 km · Praia do Martinhal 23 km · Praia da Bordeira 23 km · Praia do Tonel 25 km · Praia Grande de Pêra 31 km · Praia dos Salgados 32 km · Praia de Monte Clérigo 32 km · straight-line distance
When it fills in
The summer nortada builds through the afternoon, but it is offshore here. The southerlies that make the spot work come with frontal systems and can blow at any hour.
The wind
locals call it Nortada (the summer northerly, which here is the wrong direction)
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
synoptic
fills in: The summer nortada builds through the afternoon, but it is offshore here. The southerlies that make the spot work come with frontal systems and can blow at any hour.
Typical strength
12-20 on a working southerly
Also on record
9
The quiver, in words
9-12 m for an 80 kg rider across the 12-20 knot southerly band; no local sizing report exists.
Direction to shore
cross-on
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan, riders' month24
- Feb, riders' month42
- Mar, riders' month21
- Apr, riders' month30
- May40
- Jun33
- Jul58
- Aug66
- Sep27
- Oct, riders' month21
- Nov, riders' month22
- Dec, riders' month15
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec.
- 24%Jan16°
- 42%Feb16°
- 21%Mar16°
- 30%Apr17°
- 40%May17°
- 33%Jun18°
- 58%Jul18°
- 66%Aug17°
- 27%Sep18°
- 21%Oct19°
- 22%Nov18°
- 15%Dec17°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | From | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24% | 37% | 32% | 10.5 kt | NNW | 14:00 | 13.3°C | 16.3°C | 62 |
| Feb | 42% | 54% | 46% | 12.1 kt | ESE | 15:00 | 14°C | 16.1°C | 57 |
| Mar | 21% | 48% | 35% | 11.1 kt | NW | 17:00 | 14.6°C | 15.7°C | 62 |
| Apr | 30% | 60% | 48% | 11.5 kt | NW | 16:00 | 17°C | 16.7°C | 60 |
| May | 40% | 58% | 52% | 12.2 kt | NW | 18:00 | 19.6°C | 16.7°C | 62 |
| Jun | 33% | 52% | 43% | 11.7 kt | NW | 18:00 | 21.7°C | 18.2°C | 60 |
| Jul | 58% | 79% | 73% | 13.3 kt | NW | 18:00 | 23.9°C | 17.5°C | 62 |
| Aug | 66% | 76% | 73% | 13.3 kt | NW | 18:00 | 24°C | 17°C | 62 |
| Sep | 27% | 45% | 37% | 10.1 kt | NW | 16:00 | 21.4°C | 17.6°C | 60 |
| Oct | 21% | 44% | 32% | 10.8 kt | NW | 15:00 | 20.3°C | 18.8°C | 62 |
| Nov | 22% | 30% | 23% | 9.9 kt | ESE | 14:00 | 16.9°C | 17.8°C | 60 |
| Dec | 15% | 29% | 24% | 9.2 kt | ESE | 14:00 | 14.2°C | 17.2°C | 62 |
modelled
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal. A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
waves
Standing depth
None. Open ocean beach that shelves into deep water with shorebreak.
Tides
Semidiurnal and large. Spring highs at Lagos reach 3.5-3.6 m against lows near 0.3 m, while a neap day runs about 3.0 m to 1.0 m. The sand stretches to roughly 1.2 km at low water and shrinks hard at high.
Temperature
19°C summer · 16°C winter
Wetsuit
3/2 year round is the safe call; a 4/3 in January-March. West-Algarve upwelling can drop the water several degrees in a day even in August.
Currents
Strong currents run along the beach, and they are the main reason the spot is rated advanced. Water caves and Ponta da Piedade lie to the east; a headland separates it from Praia da Luz to the west. Modelled flow at the coastal grid point averages about 0.25 knots and rarely passes 0.45, indicative rather than measured here.What actually moves a rider on this beach is wave-driven drift, not a tidal stream.
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
No school names this spot
Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.
On your own
Room to launch: ok
Somewhere else
Meia Praia, 4 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
+351 214 401 919+351 916 613 499VHF channel 16+351 282 788 464
Launch
Sand at the foot of the cliffs, up to about 1.2 km long at low tide and much narrower at high. Ramp and car park at the eastern end with beach bars and a promenade. In summer the usable sand shrinks to whatever is left between the two lifeguard-staffed concessions.
Space
ok
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Read the direction before the strength. Anything with north in it is offshore, and the beach will look deceptively calm.
- Ride at or near low tide: the sand roughly triples in width and the lifeguard concessions matter less.
- Plan for winter and the shoulder months. The season here is the reverse of the rest of the Algarve.
- There is no downwind exit, cliffs close both ends, so do not launch unless your upwind is solid.
- If the wind is north or north-west, drive 15 minutes to the Ria de Alvor lagoon instead.
- Do the arithmetic before planning a trip around it: a southerly at 12 knots or more lands in under 2 percent of daylight hours, something like 49 hours across a whole year.
- Sunrise to one hour before sunset is the legal window on this coast (2016 captaincy edital), so a dusk session is not one.
- In the 1 June to 30 September season you may not launch from a concession, nor from sand with a concession within 500 m downwind; on a 1.2 km beach with two of them that leaves almost nothing.
Getting there
Airport
Faro (FAO), about 90 km east
Route
Faro to Lagos on the A22 takes a little over an hour; Lagos also has a rail link from Faro and Lisbon. Porto de Mos is about 10 minutes by car west of Lagos centre, with a car park and ramp at the beach.
Transfer
75 min
Cost level
mid-high in summer, mid off season
Staying
Lagos town for bars and restaurants, or apartments on the clifftop above Porto de Mos itself; Praia da Luz over the headland is quieter.
No-wind days
Ponta da Piedade sea caves by boat or kayak, surfing the west coast at Arrifana, Bordeira or Amado, Sagres and Cape St Vincent, and the Alvor lagoon when the northerly is up.
Photos
FAQ
What is the wind like at Porto de Mós?
It works on southwest wind, and local guidance treats it as a backup spot for when nearby Meia Praia is too light.
Is it suitable for beginners?
No, it is rated advanced only because waves, currents and cliffs can make it difficult.
What hazards should riders know about?
Expect waves, currents and cliffs at the end of the beach.
Last updated: August 2026