Alagoa beach

Dark volcanic pebbles, a bay open to the Atlantic, cliffs standing behind the sand. The water rarely lies flat. Surf is what brings people here: boards out on the days there is swell, and everyone else settled on the stones watching the sets come in. Surf schools work the same water, so the line-up can be crowded, and whether the surfers turn up at all comes down to the tide. Showers stand on the beach for rinsing off the salt, and there is a coffee shop for when the pebbles stop being comfortable. One visitor pairs the trip with the old distillery and a meal at the restaurants on the seafront.

• No lifeguard. The beach is unsupervised and the surf is strong. Nobody is watching the water, whatever the conditions look like from the stones.
• Underfoot. Volcanic pebbles and sand, with rocks in the way where you get into the sea; the stones are hard to sit on for any length of time.
• Toilets cost money. The nearest block, about 56 m from the beach, charges for use; the free one is roughly 286 m away.
• Surf classes take the water. When an instructor brings a group in, swimming space disappears and a loose board becomes a real risk.
• Free drinking water. Taps within about 40 m of the beach, and an information board roughly 77 m away.

Most people arrive by car: the beach car park is about 94 m from the stones, and the rest of the way is on foot. Two bus stops stand roughly 200 and 290 m off, so turning up without a car works as well. Once you are down at the water everything is on the beach itself — showers, drinking water taps, an information board and a coffee shop, all within a few dozen metres of each other.

Better: days with a swell, when the surfers are out. Watching from the pebbles is half of what the beach offers, and it costs nothing.

Avoid: flat days if you came for the waves — one visitor turned up to find hardly any.

The tide decides much of it. Surfers come when it suits them, and on the days they do not, the bay is quieter and the water is yours.