Praia do Pau is one of the anonymous coves on the cliff coast between Carvoeiro and Ferragudo — the stretch most people only see from a boat trip out of the Arade. It’s a small pocket of sand and rock under high ochre walls, with no facilities, no lifeguards and no signposted way in.
Coves like this one are the Lagoa coast with everything stripped away: sculpted stone, clear water, and whatever light the cliff walls allow. The visit logic is simple — low tide for sand, calm sea or don’t bother — and the plain warning applies doubly here: these cliffs are unstable and undercut, nobody supervises this beach, and the tide can close a small cove faster than you expect.
Who it’s for: coast-boat passengers who want to know what they photographed; determined cove collectors. Everyone else has Caneiros a little further west.