Praia da Aberta Nova or Praia do Pego: Comporta Verdict
Published 2026-10-02. Conditions described are typical and never guaranteed.
The verdict first
These two beaches sit on the same wild Atlantic coast behind the Comporta rice fields, they share the same cool water and the same tall protected dunes, and yet they ask completely different things of you. So here is the short answer before the detail.
Choose Praia do Pego if you want the easy version of wild: a car park behind the dunes, a boardwalk straight over them, and a cluster of celebrated beachfront restaurants a short walk from your towel. It is the beach for a long barefoot lunch with a swim either side, and it suits anyone who would rather spend the day than spend it getting there.
Choose Praia da Aberta Nova if the point of the day is space and silence, and if a sandy unpaved track between you and the sea feels like a filter rather than a nuisance. This is the raw end of the coast, a roughly three kilometre sweep of pale sand under some of the highest dunes around, where the lunch plan is simple and the reward is emptiness.
Neither is a calm family paddling beach. Both are open Atlantic, both run cool and clear with real surf and currents, and both carry lifeguards in the summer season only. Treat the water at either as bracing and read the flags. With that settled, here is how they differ where it counts.
Sand and space
On raw scale the two are close, which is a compliment to both. Pego is a vast run of soft pale gold sand backed by dunes and umbrella pines, part of the long wild Comporta coastline, and it is wide enough that it rarely feels packed even in high summer. Aberta Nova is a pale, vast, dune backed stretch of around three kilometres where, in the words of the beach itself, space is never the problem, even in August.
The difference is how the space is held. At Pego the scene concentrates near the boardwalk, because that is where the access and the restaurants are, so the crowd gathers in one band and thins fast as you walk. At Aberta Nova there is no such magnet. The single gap in the dunes by the small car park is the only real focus, and once you are down on the sand the beach simply opens out in both directions with almost nothing to pull people together. If your idea of a good beach is one where you can lose sight of other towels within a few minutes, Aberta Nova gets you there with less effort, while Pego gets you there with a slightly longer walk.
Both beaches reward walking. At either one, a few minutes along the sand away from the entrance buys you the quiet that people drive out here for.
Water and conditions
There is no meaningful split here, and that honesty matters. Pego is open Atlantic water that stays cool and can bring real surf and currents, bracing rather than a lagoon. Aberta Nova is the same cool, clear Atlantic with a genuine swell, loved by surfers and bodyboarders, with currents the beach openly tells you to respect.
So the choice between them is not about finding calmer water, because you will not. Both are swimmable for confident adults on the right day, both can turn lively with afternoon wind, and both keep lifeguards to the peak summer weeks only. The practical difference is coverage. Aberta Nova is honest that patrols are thin on so long a beach even in season, while Pego has its flagged zone near the boardwalk where the summer cover is focused. If you want to swim inside a patrolled area rather than judge a long empty shore entirely for yourself, Pego has the slight edge. Either way, swim within your depth, keep small children at the shallow edge, and treat a calm spell as typical rather than guaranteed.
Facilities and lunch
This is the clearest line between them, and for many readers it decides the day.
Pego is known for its food. A small number of celebrated beachfront restaurants sit just behind the dunes near the beach, the sort of long barefoot lunch that draws a summer crowd and books out in the peak weeks. You can arrive, park, walk the boardwalk, swim, and then settle in for a proper meal without getting back in the car. We keep current details for those venues in the directory and confirm them with each place rather than quote them here, so consider names, hours and prices to be confirmed, but the shape of the day is dependable: easy access plus serious dining.
Aberta Nova is the opposite proposition, deliberately. The facilities amount to a small car park, a wooden gazebo and a viewpoint, with a seasonal beach kiosk that, in the beach's own words, comes and goes. Bring water, shade and cash, and do not count on much being open out of season. The honest plan is a wild morning on the sand followed by grilled fish and local rice back in Melides, a short drive inland, where the tavernas and bakery do the work the beach does not.
So if the meal is part of the pleasure and you want it steps from the sea, Pego wins without argument. If you would rather pack a simple lunch, or drive to a village afterwards, and you treat the absence of a restaurant as part of the peace, Aberta Nova is your beach.
Getting there, and the car question
Access is the other place these two part ways. Pego is reached easily by car, with a car park behind the dunes and a boardwalk over them, a short drive from Comporta village and the rest of the cluster. The car park fills on summer weekends, so arrive early, but the approach itself is straightforward.
Aberta Nova asks more of you. You reach it down an unpaved sandy track off the Melides road, which the beach frankly describes as needing a car with a little clearance and patience for sand. It is roughly fifteen minutes from Melides and just over an hour from Lisbon, with no useful public transport either way. If you are in a low hire car you would rather not scrape, or you simply do not want to gamble on a sand track, that single fact can flip the whole decision toward Pego.
When the other one wins
Here is where each beach beats the other outright.
- Pego wins when you want a destination lunch with minimal logistics, when you are travelling without a rugged car, or when you would like your swim near a flagged summer zone. It is the stronger pick for a couples' day built around a table and a view.
- Aberta Nova wins when emptiness is the whole point, when you are happy to bring your own supplies, and when the sandy track reads as a feature rather than a problem. On a busy August weekend, when Pego's car park and lunch tables are at their fullest, Aberta Nova's sheer remoteness is exactly what buys you a quieter horizon.
Outside high summer the gap narrows. In spring and autumn both go wild and empty, the dining scene at Pego quietens, and the two become more alike: cool seas, big skies, long walks and a windbreak. In those shoulder months, pick on access and mood rather than crowds. For help timing the trip, the seasonal guide to Comporta is worth a look, and couples weighing the romance of either shore may like the notes for couples.
If you need calmer water instead
Because neither of these is a sheltered swim, it is worth saying what to do if a gentle paddle is the real requirement. The honest move is to stay on the open coast for the scenery but set expectations accordingly, or to explore the wider cluster. The wide dune backed sand at Praia da Comporta carries the same character with a boardwalk and a beach restaurant, Praia do Carvalhal pairs real surf with a quietly chic lunch, and Praia da Gale is the vast, bare, nature first option for walkers. All are open Atlantic, so the water stays cool across the lot, and families comparing the whole shore will find the family focused rundown useful. Those chasing the emptiest sand can follow the secluded beaches guide instead.
Plan a club day in Comporta
If your ideal day leans toward the Pego style of easy access and a proper beachfront table, the celebrated restaurants and clubs along this coast are best arranged ahead in the peak weeks. Browse the Comporta beach club directory to see current venues and enquire about a day booking, and lean on the wider Comporta hub to build the rest of the trip around it. We confirm names, seasons and prices with each venue rather than guess them, so you arrive knowing what is actually open.