Portugal / Setúbal
Praia da Ribeira do Cavalo
Praia da Ribeira do Cavalo is a 321 m-long sandy beach facing south-south-east on the Atlantic Ocean, 2.7 km south-west of Sesimbra (Setúbal, Portugal). The sea averages 19.0 °C in September, its warmest month, and 14.8 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Praia da Ribeira do Cavalo
Beach-day index 6.6/10 · Portugal median 6.6
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 15.4 °C | 14.8 °C | 14.9 °C | 15.6 °C | 16.6 °C | 18.0 °C | 18.5 °C | 18.9 °C | 19.0 °C | 18.4 °C | 17.3 °C | 16.2 °C |
| High °C | 15° | 16° | 18° | 20° | 24° | 28° | 30° | 31° | 28° | 23° | 18° | 15° |
| Low °C | 6° | 7° | 8° | 10° | 12° | 15° | 16° | 17° | 16° | 14° | 9° | 7° |
| Rain mm | 60 | 51 | 60 | 54 | 34 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 78 | 86 | 61 |
| Cloud % | 62 | 58 | 61 | 57 | 52 | 49 | 45 | 41 | 48 | 58 | 60 | 62 |
| Wind m/s | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Daylight h | 9.8 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.5 | 11.3 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| Record high/low | 21°/-3° | 24°/-3° | 28°/-2° | 30°/4° | 36°/7° | 41°/11° | 41°/13° | 44°/13° | 41°/12° | 34°/7° | 26°/1° | 21°/-2° |
| Beach index | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 3.8 | 3.2 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in June–September; August scores 8.2/10 with highs of 31 °C, sea at 18.9 °C and 5 mm of rain.
In August that is 0.5 points above the median of the 344 beaches in Portugal covered by this atlas.
Across the year the sea averages 17.0 °C, cooler than 64% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (86 mm) and July the driest (3 mm); the yearly total is about 530 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.5 hours in December to 14.8 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:50 and sets at 20:32 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (165°). Open water fills about 44% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in December–January; in mid-December it goes down at 17:16 local time on a bearing of 241°.
Sunrise is over the sea in October–March.
Straight out to the south-south-east the next coast is roughly 80 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 51 m deep and 104 m at 3 km, so deep water starts close to shore. Behind the beach the ground is about 134 m above sea level 500 m inland and 190 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 33% tree cover, 25% shrubland and 23% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 42% of that circle.
- Tree 33%
- Shrub 25%
- Grass 23%
- Bare 17%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- –Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- –Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 8Bus stops (1.5 km)
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Nearest services
The nearest place to eat or drink is 1.2 km east (Forte do Cavalo - Snack Bar ), the nearest grocery shop is 2.6 km north-east (Pão e Afins), the nearest fuel station is 3.0 km north-east (Galp) and the nearest pharmacy or clinic is 2.8 km north-east (Capela do Espírito Santo dos Mareantes).
| Service | Nearest mapped | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and drink | Forte do Cavalo - Snack Bar | 1.2 km | east |
| Groceries | Pão e Afins | 2.6 km | north-east |
| Accommodation | Forte do Cavalo | 1.2 km | east |
| Pharmacy or clinic | Capela do Espírito Santo dos Mareantes | 2.8 km | north-east |
| Fuel station | Galp | 3.0 km | north-east |
| Car park | — | 1.3 km | east |
| Public toilets | — | 1.4 km | east |
| Bus stop | Sesimbra (Parque Campismo) | 1.2 km | east |
Straight-line distance to the nearest feature within 20 km, from OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places. A category is missing when nothing is mapped within 20 km.
Around the beach
Nature
- Lapa do Mar cave entrance 260 m SW
- Boca de Tamboril cave entrance 460 m SW
- Cova da Areia cave entrance 520 m SW
- Picoto peak 570 m NW
- Cova das Ovelhas cave entrance 580 m SW
- Lapa do Forte do Cavalo cave entrance 870 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cascais Airport Cascais | CAT | 38.0 km | north-west |
| Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport Lisbon | LIS | 38.8 km | north |
| Portimão Airport Portimão | PRM | 151 km | south |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 8 bus stops within 1.5 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 41.1K residents); within 30 km there are 30 (about 711.1K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 6.4 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r9617519; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_29SMC_20260913_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Nearest services: OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places within 20 km.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 4.4K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.