Porto Covo with kids

Praia do Banho is the answer most days. It sits in a natural bay south of the village where the cliffs block the prevailing northerly wind, so the water is noticeably calmer, and swimmable even when Praia Grande has real Atlantic swell running.

Praia Grande is the one with lifeguards from June to September, plus space for ball games and the easiest access. It is the safest choice while someone is actually swimming, but the afternoon nortada wind can make it choppy, and that is the moment to move to Banho or Cerca Nova.

Praia dos Buizinhos earns its own afternoon: at low tide the volcanic rock empties into tidal pools full of small sea life. Check the tide before you go, because the pools are the whole point and they vanish at high water.

See all thirteen beaches, sorted by what you need.

• A kitchen matters more than a restaurant. Early dinners, fussy eaters and beach picnics are all easier when you can cook.
• Check the tide, not just the forecast. Several small coves disappear at high water; the rock pools only exist at low.
• Plan around the nortada. Mornings are usually calm; the northerly wind gets up most summer afternoons.
• June and September give you warm sea with lifeguards and none of the August crowds. They are the easiest months with children.

Blue Cove itself is set up for this: three bedrooms sleeping six, three bathrooms, a full kitchen and washer/dryer, a private heated pool, and parking inside the complex. See the apartment.