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Praia do amado 72.4

#2178 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇹 Portugal · Faro · near Portimão

Works almost every day, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Praia do amado, Portugal
Photo: Marta Araújo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score72.4 /100
Surfable days98% of the year
Clean days20% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell51% period 11 s+
Typical size1.7 m 5.5 ft median
Water17°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Praia do amado

The best time to surf Praia do amado is February, March, November. The season runs Feb to Mar. In March the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 2.2 m. The nearest airport is XXC (178 km) and the nearest town is Portimão (33 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%32%1.9 m15°C4/3
Feb98%45%2.4 m14°C4/3
Mar95%49%2.2 m14°C4/3
Apr97%24%1.8 m16°C4/3
May100%3%1.5 m17°C3/2
Jun99%5%1.4 m18°C3/2
Jul99%1%1.3 m19°C3/2
Aug99%2%1.3 m19°C2mm
Sep99%19%1.2 m17°C3/2
Oct99%27%1.6 m18°C3/2
Nov97%43%2.2 m18°C3/2
Dec96%40%2.2 m16°C4/3

What is under Praia do amado

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 167 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres.

Depth 8 km out167 m
Depth 4 km out83 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 72.4

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
19.1
Best days 22.4%
16.1
Clean days 18.4%
9.2
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.6
Access 4.1%
2.5

The detail

Faces 275° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 40% of days. Mean peak period 11.1 s. Days over 3 m: 9%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.9 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 22%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 37.167, -8.904 (OpenStreetMap).

WSL

Live here

3 homes for sale within 30 km of Praia do amado, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €19,900. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Imovirtual and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€19,900House · 24 m² · 2 roomsBarão de São Miguel10 km from the spot →€23,000House · 37 m² · 3 roomsSão Gonçalo de Lagos20 km from the spot →€25,000House · 24 m² · 1 roomBarão de São Miguel10 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,150/ month
typically €1,010 – €1,280
Rent, one bedroom€604
Groceries€242
Eating out€136
Getting around€81
Phone + internet€85
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,240/ month
typically €1,970 – €2,500
Somewhere to stay€1,320
Eating out€472
Car, transfers, fuel€306
Data + extras€144
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Portugal (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

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