By Monika
How to Visit Benagil Cave, Portugal – Tips, Tours and Best Ways to See It.
If you’ve ever seen photos of Portugal’s southern coast, chances are you’ve come across the iconic Benagil Cave – an incredible sea cave with a natural skylight and golden, glowing walls.
This cave (also known as Algar de Benagil) has become one of the region’s top must-see places, and for good reason! But while it’s jaw-droppingly beautiful, figuring out how to actually see it can be a bit tricky.
Can you walk to it? Should you kayak, paddleboard, or take a boat tour?
Well, if you’re looking for an up-close and personal experience, Benagil Cave kayaking is one of the best ways to explore this stunning natural wonder.
In this post, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to visit Benagil Cave safely and responsibly, plus I’ll give you my best tips and share exactly how we visited this incredible spot.
You guessed it – we kayaked!
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- How to Visit Benagil Cave, Portugal – Tips, Tours and Best Ways to See It.
Where is Benagil Cave?
As I mentioned earlier, it’s a stunning dome-shaped sea cave, with the opening in its ceiling acting as a natural skylight, located in the Algarve region of Portugal, near Praia de Benagil (Benagil Beach).
It was formed about 20 million years ago, and the “rings” visible on the walls correspond to different sea levels inside the cave over the years.
It’s large enough for small boats and kayaks to enter and also has a small sand beach inside.
How to get to Benagil Cave?
So, in short, you can only see Benagil Cave from the sea.
I’ll get to how exactly to get to the cave a little later in this article, but your starting point for all the different ways to visit the cave will be Benagil Beach.
Drive:
The easiest way to get there is by car.
There are several parking lots in the area of the beach and if you put “parking near Benagil Beach”, Google Maps will easily find them for you.
Then you can walk to the beach or to your tour provider’s meeting point.
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READ MORE: Driving in Portugal Made Easy: My Best Tips for a Safe Road Trip.
Take a bus:
Taking the bus is not the most convenient way to get to the beach, but there is a bus that stops in Benagil: bus #77, a circular route Lagoa – Praia da Marinha – Benagil – Lagoa.
Just be sure to check the schedule, as the bus does not run very frequently.
How to visit Benagil Cave?
Benagil Cave is only accessible from the sea, and currently it’s only allowed to visit with a guided tour.
In the past you were able to use your own kayak or a paddleboard to reach it, but as of 2024, it’s no longer allowed to enter the cave on your own.
Which tour type is best for you?
Boat tours
There are many boat tours that can take you to the cave. They depart from many coastal towns, like Portimão, Albufeira, Lagos, Carvoeiro, and Faro.
If you want to have a chance to admire the coastal cliffs and see the inside of Benagil Cave without much effort, a boat tour is a perfect option.
I’d recommend choosing a small boat option as they can actually fit inside the cave, whereas bigger boats can only hover by the cave entrance for you to peek inside.
Kayaking to Benagil Cave
In my opinion that’s the best way to experience the cave.
And I say this as a person who is not super confident on the water, and all kinds of water activities mean stepping out of my comfort zone in a big way 😊
I’ll share our kayaking experience below but know that there are MANY kayaking tours available to visit the cave.
You can choose a “standard” tour that goes out during the day, but if you’d like to avoid the crowds, you may want to choose a sunrise/sunset tour that will get you to the cave before the boats start running or after they stop operating and the crowds disappear.
Like the boat tours, the kayak tours are available from many coastal towns in the area. You may start on a boat and then have to transfer to your kayak. Local tours will depart from Benagil Beach.
Important: some time after our visit in April of 2024, the regulations changed, and it’s no longer allowed to disembark inside the cave. Boats and kayaks can still enter the cave and stay inside for a few minutes. The number of kayaks per tour is also limited, so book your tour in advance to secure your spot!
Check the current rules on the Algarve Tourism official website.
What it’s like to kayak to Benagil Cave (our first-hand experience)
We booked the kayaking tour at the specific request of our son. We originally had a boat tour booked, but he really wanted to kayak, so we changed our plan.
We did go for the early morning sunrise tour with Secret Algarve to avoid the crowds and the strong wake caused by heavy boat traffic.
Well, only half of these goals were accomplished. We did avoid the tourists (there was only one other tour inside the cave with us, which was great!), but we still had the waves!
The sea was VERY choppy that morning; however, the guide from our tour company wasn’t concerned at all and assured us we were safe, so off we went.
Let me just say that the minute the guide pulled our kayak into the water, a wave came over and got us thoroughly wet from the waist down!
Did I say I’m not a huge water sports person?… Only having a life vest on and my strong desire to see the iconic Benagil Cave kept me from backing out right there!
We had a group of 6 or 8 double sea kayaks – I was clutching my paddle for dear life, so I didn’t count exactly!
Our phones were also tightly locked in the provided dry bag and attached securely to our kayak, so I have no pictures of us “in action”. It was just too risky to take photos while on the water that day.
We paddled to the cave entrance and were instructed to form a line and enter the cave one at a time through the entrance of the right side.
At first it seemed counterintuitive to me, as it has a small rock right in the middle that we had to maneuver around, but this was the way to enter without fighting the waves.
Our guide met us at the beach area and helped us “park” the kayaks.
That was in April of 2024 when it was still allowed to disembark inside the cave and walk around.
It was so nice to relax and explore this ancient natural wonder! It’s truly stunning.
After about 45 minutes, we got back in our kayaks and paddled a little further along the coast to another cave.
It was called Pirate’s Cave and was only accessible at low tide (we were lucky to book our tour at low tide!) as during high tide the openings are filled with water.
You enter through one opening and exit through another (imagine a circular driveway – it works the same way). But you can stop at a little beach inside and walk around.
Good to know: This cave is DARK! We had to take our phones out to use flashlights so we could see where we were stepping and the barnacles growing on the walls.
It felt really special to be in this “secret” cave…
We then carefully exited and were led back outside one by one. It was time to head back to Benagil Beach.
As nervous as I was on the choppy ocean water, my first time in a sea kayak (I’ve kayaked before, just not on the ocean!), wet from the waves, I was so happy that we had that experience.
Loved every minute of it!
Helpful hint: Benagil Beach has bathrooms and restaurants so all the facilities you need after a good kayaking session!
Paddleboarding (SUP)
You can paddleboard to the cave, but just like with the kayaking tours, only with a guide.
Can you swim to Benagil Cave?
No, it is not allowed to swim to the cave, despite the short distance from the beach.
In fact, you may get a fine for attempting it, and it’s not safe to do that due to strong currents and the wake created by ongoing boat traffic.
Can you walk to Benagil Cave?
Technically yes. You can see the top opening of the cave, the “skylight” from the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail; however, the opening is fenced in to ensure the safety of both the hikers and the people inside the cave.
We were excited to see it when we hiked the trail the day before our kayak tour, but you can’t really look inside. You can see the opening, but not directly into the cave.
Best time to visit the cave
While Benagil Cave is open year round, May through September are the best months to visit.
You’ll have the best weather and the warmest ocean water. We visited in April, and we had raincoats on to keep us warm, as it was a bit chilly and windy early in the morning. The sunrise tours just started operating, as until now it was simply too dark.
With that being said, July and August are typically the busiest months, so ideally you should aim for May, June or September to get the best weather and the least crowds.
As far as the time of day, I cannot recommend the sunrise tour enough! Yes, it’s an early wake-up, but you either get the cave to yourself or share it with maybe just another tour.
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Tips for visiting Benagil Cave
- book your tour early, especially the sunrise tour
- dress for the weather; consider rain coats on chillier days and bring sunscreen and hats for on hot days
- bring a change of clothes and a quick dry towel – you most likely WILL get wet; leave them in the car or at the tour company’s office to use after the tour.
- make sure your booking includes a dry bag for your phones etc., and if not, bring your own.
- bring your phone or camera
- go out there and enjoy, even if you’re nervous! You’ll be glad you did!
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Is visiting the cave worth it?
Yes, it absolutely is!
Even without the possibility to step out of the boat or a kayak, you still get to see the inside of this amazing natural wonder. And more than likely, you’ll visit another Algarve cave on your tour, plus you’ll get a great view of the cliffs from the water.
Especially if you happen to go on your tour on a nice, calm day!
Where to stay near Benagil Cave
The most convenient places to stay can be found in Carvoeiro (10-minute drive), but Portimão, Lagos and Albufeira are also close, at only about 25-30 minutes away.
Nearby attractions:
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About Monika
An avid traveler and a passionate trip planner, mildly obsessed with being organized and prepared 🙂
Well aware of how precious travel time is, I’m here to share my experience and help you get the most out of your vacation time.
“Taking the hassle out of trip planning”
