There are many paradisiacal beaches to see in the Algarve. The eastern ones are perfect for surfing and most of them are surrounded by those golden cliffs that attract so many bathers and tourists. On the contrary, the beaches of the western part are large sandy areas. Miles of beaches where the horizon is the limit. One of those beaches, my favorite among all the ones I have seen in the Algarve, is Barril beach . A beautiful beach of fine golden sand where you can see a unique anchor cemetery that draws the attention of everyone who passes by.
Barril Beach
After having known many of the beaches of the Algarve, for me the best for many reasons, is Barril beach. I liked its surroundings, how clean it was, the tranquility. If I return to this area of ​​Portugal, I am sure that this beach will be one of the ones that I will visit again because I think it is fantastic.
The sandbank is immense, a narrow tongue of white sand that from end to end reaches 5 kilometers. With so many beaches, there are areas for all tastes. The closest to the anchor cemetery is the most frequented. It is close to the services offered by the beach and you don’t have to walk to have a good location.
In our case we prefer to move a few meters and look for a quieter area. It doesn’t cost much to find a small plot of sand where no one bothers you and from which to look at the sea and that horizon that becomes round as there is nothing that stands between the sky and your gaze.
When you reach the beach, walking to the right for a few hundred meters, you will come to a nudist area. If anyone is a friend of enjoying the sun and the sea as they came to the world, in Praia do Barril you can do it away from prying eyes.
Anchor graveyard
One of the things that makes this Portuguese beach special is its anchor graveyard. It is impossible not to see it because it is next to the access that leads to the mini-train station and to the shopping and restaurant area.
These anchors were placed in their current location in 1964, when the fishing community on this beach disappeared for good. There are 203 anchors that pay homage to the missing bluefin tuna fishing in the Algarve. A fishery that was carried out with traditional techniques and that during the tuna season (between May and September), employed 80 families. They fished with nets and the rusty anchors that we see today in the sand, creating labyrinths from which the fish could not get out. The number of tuna decreased considerably and it became impossible to maintain the less invasive fishing techniques.
Where is Barril beach
Barril beach is part of the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, a protected area whose beaches are undoubtedly among the best in Europe. Visiting this beach and its anchor cemetery is undoubtedly one of the things to do in Tavira, the closest city to this beach.
Barril beach can be reached by car. But you will have to get up early because the parking area is not too wide. Very close to the access to the beach there is a paid car park, and continuing along the road next to the estuary, there are a good number of free parking spaces. We arrived quite early and we already had to move several hundred meters to park our car.
Another way to get to this beach if you don’t have a car or you don’t want to end up desperate for not finding a place to park, is by bus. From Tavira there is a line that leads to Pedras d’El Rei, a tourist complex with rental houses. From the point where the bus stops, you have to walk almost a kilometer and a half to the estuary.
Access to the beach
Once you reach the estuary, you have to cross a narrow bridge that leads to the stop of the little train that runs to the beach itself. This little train was formerly used as a means of transport between the beach and Pedras d’El Rei. The tuna arrived on the mainland in this means of transport, and returned to the beach loaded with supplies for the fishermen.
The train ticket costs €1.5 each way and the biggest problem is the number of people waiting to go to the beach on the train. We were in Barril beach in September of last year (2020), and despite the Covid-19 and not being the height of the high season, there were a lot of people. For this reason, we finally decided to walk both the outward and return journeys.
To do this, you only have to walk through an enabled passage to the right of the mini train station. It is a safe path that runs parallel to the tracks. You can get to the end or turn off at some point and walk across the dunes. It is a simple journey of about 1.5 kilometers. The only downside is that if it’s very hot, the sun hits you hard, except at the end of the route where there are some pine trees.
Barril Beach Services
It is one of the beaches in the Algarve where we find more tourist services. They are all together, very close to the little train stop. There are restaurants, shops and toilets. All this occupies what were once the fishermen’s houses and the fishing warehouses, mainly tuna.
During the summer there are lifeguards, but only in certain areas of this long beach. There are also hammocks and umbrellas for rent, although the truth is that if you are going to spend several days on the beach it is more worth buying one than renting it.
