About This Guide
This site covers one cave: Algar de Benagil, on the coast of Lagoa in the Algarve. It exists because a lot of what is written about the cave online still describes a place that stopped existing in July 2024, when landing on the sand inside was prohibited. The trips that still go in are listed on the homepage.
Where the numbers come from
The access rules quoted across this site are taken from the regulation itself, not from operator summaries: Edital 019/2024 of the Capitania do Porto de Portimão, in force since 30 July 2024, and its amendment Edital 009/2025 of 2 July 2025. Both are published by the Autoridade Marítima Nacional and both are read in full before anything here is written.
Prices, durations, ratings and review counts come from the operators' own listings and are re-checked when the page is updated. The month of the last check is printed on the homepage. Exchange rates are stated with the date they were taken.
How the tours are chosen
Everything listed here is licensed to enter the cave. Beyond that the selection is broad rather than narrowed to one favourite:
- Every method the rules allow: motorised boat, guided kayak and guided SUP
- Every working departure point on this stretch of coast, from Benagil itself out to Albufeira
- The cheap short runs alongside the long ones, because the right answer depends on whether you came for the cave or for the coastline
- Free cancellation, since the sea cancels these trips often enough to matter
What this site is not
It is not a tour operator and not a booking platform. Nobody here sells you anything, takes a payment, or has any authority over your reservation. Bookings, changes and refunds are handled by the operator or platform you book with.
If a detail on this page has gone out of date, telling us is the fastest way to fix it. Corrections get made the same week.
How the site pays for itself
Links to tours are affiliate links. If you book through one, the platform pays a commission and you pay the same price you would have paid otherwise. Commission rates do not decide what appears here or in what order: the cheapest trip on the page is also the one with the smallest payout, and it is listed first because it is the cheapest.
About the author
Rui Baptista lives in Lagoa, ten minutes up the road from Benagil, and has written about the Algarve's coastal operators since 2017. He read both editals that now govern the cave in the original Portuguese, has taken the kayak route and the Portimão boat route, and thinks the eight minutes are worth the extra money.