Praia Grande is on the east bank of the wide estuary

Estuary

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

 of the Rio Arade

Arade

The Arade is a river located in the region of the Algarve, southern Portugal. the river's course takes it through the municipalities of Silves, Lagoa and Portimão. The source of the river lies to the southwest of the Serra do Caldeirão mountain ridge, in a valley called Barranco do Pé do Coelho....

, south of Ferragudo

Ferragudo

Ferragudo is a Portuguese civil parish at the western border of the municipality of Lagoa Municipality, covering an area of 5.41 km² and encompassing a small population of 1867 inhabitants...

, in the municipality/concelho

Concelho

Concelho , in the Portuguese language, is the word municipality, when referring to the territory. The word município is used when municipality means the organ of State...

 of Lagoa (Algarve)

Lagoa (Algarve)

Lagoa Municipality is a Portuguese municipality in Faro District, in the region known as the Algarve, with about 6,100 inhabitants.Its seat is the city of Lagoa....

, in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

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Map location: 37°07′12"N 8°31′20"W

This beach is just inside the mole

Mole (architecture)

A mole is a massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater, or a causeway between places separated by water. The word comes from Middle French mole and ultimately Latin mōlēs meaning a large mass, especially of rock and has the same root as molecule.Historically, the term "mole"...

 which shields the river entrance and the port area of Portimão

Portimão

Portimão is a Portuguese town located in the District of Faro in the Region of Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão . In 1924, it was incorporated as a cidade and became known merely as Portimão. The town has 41,000 inhabitants and the Portimão...

, and runs north to the Forte de São João do Arade

Fort of São João do Arade

The Fort of São João do Arade is located in the Algarve in the town and civil parish/freguesia of Ferragudo, in the municipality/concelho of Lagoa, in Portugal.Map location: Situated in a dominant position at the mouth of the Rio...

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Like other beaches in the western Algarve, it is bordered by cliffs from the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 epoch, very rich in marine fossils

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

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