Praia do Ribeiro

Ribeiro is a small cove, with around 120 metres of sand, tucked between the rocky headlands that separate Praia de Bombas from Praia de Bombinhas. All around it there is nothing but native forest. The water is calm and clear, and the place has the quiet of a beach you can't see from the road.

Cars can't get there. The way in is the Passarela do Ribeiro, a boardwalk of roughly 800 metres along the edge of the forest that links the two neighbouring beaches: it starts at the right-hand end of Bombas and finishes at the left-hand end of Bombinhas, passing Ribeiro halfway along. Before it was built, the route was a trail.

The boardwalk has lighting and benches along the way, and was built to make the route safer and more accessible. That changes how the beach gets used: you can walk out from the centre or from Bombas, take a swim at Ribeiro and carry on — or walk the whole boardwalk just for the view.

At certain times of year, turtles can be seen swimming calmly by the rocks. The beach is good for snorkelling too, with one caveat the town council itself makes: the rocky shore and the swell call for more experience and care than the more sheltered coves, such as Sepultura. Beginners are better off staying close to the sand.

The town council lists no facilities on the sand at Ribeiro, and that is part of its charm. What it does have is neighbours: the shops of Bombas at one end of the boardwalk and those of the centre at the other, each a short walk away.

For anyone thinking about property, Ribeiro says a lot about the two neighbourhoods on either side. Bombas and the centre are among the neighbourhoods with the most shops and services on the peninsula, and the boardwalk stitches them together on foot, along the sea. Living in either one means having, beyond the beach on your doorstep, this hidden cove within walking distance.