5 Best Benagil Caves Kayaking Tours
Visiting Benagil Caves is one of the best things to do in the Algarve and you’ll likely have seen it come up many times as you do research for your Portugal trip.
On my recent trip to the Algarve coast, I was keen to try kayaking to the Benagil Caves as I’d seen photos of it and it looked incredible.
Being the adventurous type I wasn’t keen on booking a boat tour since with a boat tour you pretty much just sit at the entrance of the cave and you don’t get to fully experience the depth of it and the sheer scale. Plus, you can’t get off the boats and walk around.
We booked our a Benagil Caves kayaking experience for ourselves without a guide and there are some things I definitely wish I’d known before I went.
By putting together this Benagil cave kayak guide you can avoid some of the mistakes we made to fully enjoy the experience.
Most kayak tours book out during the summer months so make sure you book your Benagil sea caves kayaking tour in advance! I used GetYourGuide kayak Benagil tour companies.
Take a guided trip to Benagil Cave and Praia do Marinha visiting private beaches, caves and tunnels along the way.
Visit Benagil Sea Caves without a guide by kayak giving you the ultimate flexibility.
A unique tour to Benagil Cave by bodyboard with a guide.
How to get to the Benagil Cave
While you walk over the top of the Benagil cave while hiking the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail, you actually can’t walk to the caves themselves.
You have to either take a boat tour, a kayak trip, paddleboarding trip or you can also book a cool bodyboarding tour that looked pretty fun!
If you’re kayaking, the best place to start your Benagil Cave tours from is Benagil Beach since it’s about a 10-15 minute kayak from the beach to the inside of the cave.
Benagil Beach has a few restaurants around it and it’s somewhere you’ll come across if you’ve decided to do the 7-Hanging Valleys hike.
We actually came to Benagil Beach several times during our few weeks in the Algarve for various reasons including to do the kayaking trip and to get dinner at O Pescador restaurant in Benagil which has great sunset views from their terrace.
Top tip: One company, Secret Algarve, claims to have an Alone in Benagil Cave kayak tour. This isn’t true and you’re usually not alone since many tour companies now offer tours until 7 pm and are actually cheaper.
Benagil Caves kayaking vs boat tour Benagil Caves
If you’re taking a Benagil caves boat trip there are companies which leave from further away including Lagos, Carvoeiro and Portimão.
There’s also this great Benagil cave tour from Faro which is quite far away from Benagil otherwise.
This is a good option if you’re staying in one of those towns without a car, or if you are travelling with younger children or just don’t fancy getting wet (as you will when kayaking!).
On the boat trips you can combine the caves with Algarve dolphin watching too and you’ll see more of the coast.
Taking a Benagil boat tour is a good option if the weather is a bit rougher since you won’t have to contend with the waves and the boats can get over them pretty effortlessly.
However, the boat tours can be busier than the kayaks and not offer the same immersive experience because of this.
Also, the Benagil tours by boat have to sit at the entrance to the cave and so you don’t get to get off the boat and explore like you can with a kayak, paddle board or bodyboard.
This is one of the best Benagil Caves boat trips
5 Best Benagil Caves Kayaking Tours
With so many options for Benagil Cave kayaking tours, it can be hard to know where to start. I’ve shared my experiences below so that you can get the truth on which one to book.
Non-Guided Benagil cave kayaking tour
- Price: €17
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Duration: 2-hour rental duration (You can see the caves in under 1 hour)
- Best for: Those confident in kayaks who want to explore further up the coast too
- Where to book online: GetYourGuide
We opted for a non-guided kayak experience which definitely has its pros and cons.
Since we’re pretty experienced sea kayakers having done trips in Canada and Sweden, we’re confident out on the water, at steering and controlling kayaks and in rougher conditions.
However, we hadn’t realised quite how steep the drop-off for Benagil Beach and the beach area inside the cave were which made launching the kayak for our return trip pretty scary.
It was fine on the way out as the guide from the company helped us launch, but once in the cave the waves looked huge and we had several attempts at launching the kayak before we were on our return journey.
Though there were some guides from another company in the cave helping other kayakers, they wouldn’t help us since we hadn’t booked with them. I understand that but it did taint the experience a bit.
The plus of renting a kayak on your own is that you can spend as little or as long in the cave as you want. Had the waters been calmer, we would have continued up the coast to check out some of the other caves and private beaches that you can find along the coastline which you don’t always get to do with a tour.
Top tip: If the weather is looking rough, ask if you can reschedule your tour. Most companies will allow this and it’ll make for a far more enjoyable experience!
Book your kayak rental for the Benagil sea caves
Best Benagil Cave Tour by kayak with a guide
- Price: €35
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Duration: 2 hours
- Best for: Those new to sea kayaking or who want additional information form a guide
- Where to book: GetYourGuide
If you want to stick with a guide which is a good option then this Benagil Cave kayak tour with a guide is the one with the best Benagil kayak reviews.
This is one of the top-rated kayak tours to Benagil Caves as you’ll head off along the coast with a guide as well as to other beautiful spots along the Algarve including the famous Marinha Beach and other beaches that are only accessible by boat or kayak.
You’ll get 20 minutes to explore Benagil Cave itself and your local guide will also show you other cool places to visit.
While hiking the Sete Vales Suspensos trail I saw some of these kayak tours and they were in some super cool spots, going under natural rock arches and pulling up at otherwise inaccessible beaches.
The downside of this tour is that they quite often run with a large number of people (26 kayaks +) which can mean you’re spending a lot of time hanging about waiting rather than exploring. But, since the scenery is so pretty it’s not usually too much of an issue.
Book this guided Benagil kayaking tour
Best paddleboarding tours to Benagil Cave
If you’re more of a paddleboarder than a kayaker, you can check out this paddleboard rental to Benagil Caves.
Much like the kayak rental above, this SUP rental doesn’t include a guide, so you’ll get the ultimate flexibility in where you want to go and for how long.
- Price: €20
- Rating: 5/5
- Best for: Independent travellers who enjoy paddleboarding
- Where to book: GetYourGuide
Book your paddleboarding rental from Benagil
Alternatively, you can book this paddleboarding OR kayaking tour from Albufeira just a little bit further up the coast. This way, if you’re with a bigger group of people and one of you wants to kayak and the other wants to try a SUP tour can!
You just have to let the company know which ones you want in advance and then you’ll be driven in a boat to Benagil Cave where you can get off and hit the water on your chosen craft to explore inside Benagil.
If you aren’t renting a car during your trip to the Algarve this is also a good choice since Albufeira is a bit easier to get to and you’ll start and finish your tour there.
- Price: €45
- Rating: 4.7/5
- Best for: Groups of friends or a family where people want to do different things
- Where to book: GetYourGuide
Book this paddleboarding + kayaking Benagil caves tour
Bodyboard tour to Benagil Cave
- Price: €25
- Rating: 5/5
- Best for: Unique experience that’s almost like swimming to Benagil caves!
- Where to book: GetYourGuide
We saw a group of bodyboarders when we were at Benagil Cave and it looked like such a fun way to get inside the caves.
They were all equipped with a bodyboard and wetsuits and the best part was it didn’t matter if they fell in the sea and they didn’t need to worry about capsizing a kayak since the whole point was getting wet and swimming.
They had a guide with them who was telling them some interesting information about the cave, and they seemed to have plenty of time to explore once inside.
If you’re looking for a unique way to get to Benagil Cave, this Benagil bodysurfing tour is definitely the one!
Book bodyboarding tour to Benagil Cave
FAQs about kayaking Benagil Caves
Can you swim to Benagil Caves?
When is the best time of day to see the Benagil Caves?
What is Benagil Cave?
How long does it take to kayak to Benagil Caves?
Can you kayak to Benagil caves?
How do you see the caves in Benagil?
Final thoughts on the Benagil Caves kayaking tours
Kayaking Benagil Caves is the best way to experience the caves since it’s the only way you can get off and explore the caves on foot.
As you go on your kayak Benagil caves experience and enter under the archways and into the cave you’ll be amazed by the size of the cave and the hole in the ceiling!
Whether you opt for rental-only or a guided Benagil kayak tour or paddleboard, you can’t fail to be impressed!
If you want to explore more of the coastline by kayak, check out these Lagos kayaking tours to the stunning Ponta da Piedade! I personally think they’re even more pretty than the Benagil kayak tours.
Take a guided trip to Benagil Cave and Praia do Marinha visiting private beaches, caves and tunnels along the way.
Visit Benagil Sea Caves without a guide by kayak giving you the ultimate flexibility.
A unique tour to Benagil Cave by bodyboard with a guide.
Last Updated on July 23, 2023 by Hannah
Hannah started That Adventurer after graduating back in 2013 and has documented all of her adventures since then. From backpacking South America to city breaks in Europe, a 3 month road trip across the USA in a self-converted van and 6 years living in Canada, you’ll find posts on all of this.
Hannah specialises in active travel and on That Adventurer you’ll find hiking, walking, biking, skiing and all sorts of active travel guides to allow you to see a destination in an adventurous way.
Now back in Europe, you’ll find new guides as Hannah and her husband spend the next year ‘digital nomading’ from Norway to Portugal, Switzerland to Scotland and places in between.
