Portimao

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Kayak Benagil Cave Access Open Again (small group)

Badge of ExcellencePortimao, Portugal

2 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Many people visit the famous Benagil Caves in the Algarve on a boat tour, but this exciting tour takes you inside these natural formations by kayak. Join a small group and set off from Benagil Beach for the cave system adventure. Once you reach the grotto, you can step out of your kayak and take lots of pictures of the natural skylight, something you can't do on a boat tour.

Paddle past Praia da Marinha and the rocky coastline
Choose from multiple tour times to suit your schedule
All necessary kayaking equipment is provided
A small group means more attention from your guide

What's Included

Use of kayak
Vests and pucks
Cylinder for mobile phone

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Kayak Algarve - Secret Algarve
Estr. de Benagil, 8400-400 Carvoeiro, Portugal
Meet directly at our office at Benagil Beach. Park at the top and walk down directly to the beach, after 100 meters it`s then the first small road on the right. Important: Meeting point is not at the beach!

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Praia da Marinha (Pass By)

Albandeira Beach

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Praia do Barranco (Pass By)

Praia das Fontainhas (Pass By)

Praia do Barranquinho (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions

Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
People over 100 kg (220 lbs) are not allowed
Minimum age 4 years. Minimum age 4 years
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Isabelle_L

We are so happy we chose this company for our kayak tour. The guides were excellent, full of little fun stories about the caves, so nice and welcoming. We definitely recommend them if you want a kayak tour of the Benagil cave !

Reviews

5.0

1,135 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 1,135 reviews

Cancelled and no refund given

Jazz_R, Apr 2024

Received an email cancelling our trip due to bad weather and asking if I wanted a refund or to reschedule our trip. I asked for a refund (twice). After 2.5 weeks, I have not received a reply or a refund.

Once in a Lifetime Experience

Kelly_C, Apr 2024

My dad and I had an amazing experience on the Benagil Cave Kayak tour with Secret Algarve. We went on the 9:30 AM tour and definitely recommend going on the earliest time slot you can. After an intro to kayaking and making sure everyone had life jackets, we walked the few steps to the beach. Benagil Cave was super close by by kayak and we also saw some other smaller caves and beaches along the coast. Definitely a can’t miss experience!

Awesome

Maggie_C, Apr 2024

The kayak trip was awesome! Lasted about 2.5 hours and got to kayak to the Benagil cave along with another nearby cave afterwards. Seeing the cliffs from the water was something I won’t forget! The group was around 12 in total, and my husband and I shared a tandem kayak. Our guide Francisco was great! Very knowledge and funny. I would definitely recommend this company if you want to really explore the Benagil Cave!

Waow.

Mairead_G, Apr 2024

Unreal experience. The caves were stunning and had a really friendly guide and get safe with every instruction.

Beautiful and safe Kayaking!!!

Suzann_T, Apr 2024

Safety was the #1 priority for “Secret Kayaks” These young men work hard to bring everyone safety into the cave and back out. Also got a wee history of the caves! I would book this early in your trip to ensure you have time to reschedule if the weather is not good!!! The pictures are of the young men who work so hard! Thank you for the wonderful experience!

Loved kayaking with kids

neesha_p, Jan 2024

We kayaked with our 6 and 8 year old kids who loved it! What an amazing way to see the area, the staff was amazing!

avoid this!!!

Amy_S, Oct 2023

The tour operator never showed up at the location. I was 30 minutes early and sent several texts and also called. No one responded to the texts or calls. There was no communication. We waited over an hour and wasted our limited vacation time.

Don’t do this tour!!

james_s, Oct 2023

Drove 2 hours.. hiked to beach.. no operator showed up Called Viator.. they couldn’t reach tour operator… horrible service

I booked this trip for...

Sharon_W, Oct 2023

I booked this trip for three people well in advance, and they needed to switch it to two as one of our people couldn’t come weeks before the excursion. I tried multiple times, but no one responded about the cancellation and my credit card was charged for three. Then, we got an email that the trip was canceled due to large waves, but there was no mention of the money refund it to me so now I’m gonna have to follow up with my credit card. I would not recommend this company for that reason.

very poor communication

Hannah_S, Oct 2023

very disappointed - 1. no communication for change in meeting place (not just our group - others too). 6 of us were given the wrong meeting location and had trouble finding the new spot. I messaged the WhatsApp number provided with no response. thankfully someone who knew the employees was there and able to contact them for us. she ended up giving me the new location. 2. water conditions were not ideal so, upon arrival, the tour was cancelled. This is understandable. But we would have liked to know that before scrambling to travel to a further location (we did not have our own vehicle) 3. I understand that conditions change, and a staff member did tell us that if it didn’t work to rebook for the next day, we could get a refund asap, no problem, as long as we contacted them via email or WhatsApp with our booking info. 4. I emailed and got an offer immediately to rebook. I said we couldn’t rebook and preferred a refund. the communication ended here. Still no response to my attempts at communicating through WhatsApp. I’m sure the excursion itself would have been incredible. I’m just frustrated with the lack of communication before, during, and after.

Awesome experience despite detour!

Jonathan_N, Sep 2023

Evidently the town of Benagil banned boats & kayaks from entering the Benagil Cave the week prior to our scheduled tour due to overcrowding. This meant that the tour guides had to set a different launch site and plan a different route at the last minute. In the end, though, it was still an awesome tour. Patrick & Francisco were great guides — and the whole experience felt very professional. We chose the earliest tour in the morning. I'd highly recommend that because most of the motorboat tour companies do not start running until the early afternoon. This meant that the water was super calm and empty for the entirety of our tour.

Great Afternoon!

Grace_W, Sep 2023

Patrick was great! Gave some history and explanation of The Algarve. Kept the tour fun and found great beach for our break. Definitely a highlight of our trip!

Cancelled Kayaking -

Amy_W, Sep 2023

Sadly the trip was cancelled the night before by the order of Maritime Police. You need a boat to see the caves now and it doesn't seem they will reopen to swimming or kayaking

Kayaking in the Benagil Caves

Kevin_D, Sep 2023

We had a great kayak tour of the Benagil Caves in Portugal. Our hosts did all the heavy lifting and all we needed to do was paddle and enjoy the views. We appreciated their watchful eye and keeping all of us together as this is a very popular place. We got some great pictures.

Best kayak tour in benagil

Matthew_A, Sep 2023

Our tour guides made sure that our safety was their #1 priority and they definitely stood out compared to other guided tours. They took their time with our group and told us about the history of the Algarve/caves as well.

Great guides, fun, different

Vickie_W, Sep 2023

Great tour guides Patrick and Paulo, got to go into other caves besides Benagil and was amazing to see the rocks from the water. Highly recommend this group for the adventure!

Great excursion

Chris_J, Sep 2023

Our guides were terrific. Kayak is definitely the best way to see the beauty of the caves including a couple of hidden gems that we weren’t expecting.

Great tour!

Ann_J, Aug 2023

Great tour. Guides were helpful, funny and informative. My kids especially loved it. Loved getting to go inside the cave!

Too crowded

Corey_B, Aug 2023

Nothing against our amazing tour guides, but it was so crowded in the caves and in the water it was hard to get around. The water was also so choppy and we couldn’t do as much as usual. I was blown away that they even let that many people, boats, kayaks, paddle boards all in the water on top of each other at the same time. If the conditions were different, I think we would have enjoyed ourselves more.

Kayaks for the win!

Timothy_B, Aug 2023

This company is extremely committed to safety, and I cannot say the same for some of the other operators there. It is extremely busy during the summer, and we witnessed this while we were in the caves, but somehow we managed to have a unique experience. You must do this if you go to the area because Taking a boat into the caves, it’s just like driving a semi through the savanna in Africa for Safari. You will see everything but it’s just so misplaced.

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