Praia do Moinho de Baixo
Praia do Meco is a fairly remote beach located within the Serra da Arrabida national park near Sesimbra. It occupies a 4km stretch of coast to the south of the beaches of Costa da Caparica, around 40km south of Lisbon.
This long, sandy beach was largely undiscovered until the early 1970s. There was no vehicular access and nothing in the way of development. Around this time travelling 'hippies' from around Europe and the U.S. set up camp at the beach.
Over the years the beach slowly gained a reputation and by the mid 1980s Praia do Meco was known as something of an exclusive destination for weekend breaks from Lisbon. The beach was also particularly popular among the gay community.
Around about this time Praia do Meco became one of a handful of official naturist beaches in Portugal. It is, however, worth noting that this status does not include the whole beach. The nudist area at Praia do Meco is the part of the beach to the south of the large dune in the middle of the beach.
The beach itself is a wonderful expanse of golden sand backed by sandy cliffs with pine forest beyond. The sea here is known for its powerful waves and combined with a steeply sloping beach at high tide can make it a little dangerous. In fact Meco was the scene of a tragedy back in 2013 when six students were drowned after being swept into the sea by a wave at night.
Meco is home to a beach bar / restaurant - the Bar do Peixe. There is often something going on here and the beach is also home to an annual frisbee competition (Torneio Internacional Bar do Peixe). The Praia do Meco area has also been used as the location of the Super Bock Super Rock Festival on several occasions.
