São Martinho do Porto boasts one of the most beautiful beaches in Portugal.
With its stunning shell-shaped bay, the waters are necessarily calm and the sand is fine white.

A long time ago, the land formed by the Pescaria and Bouro mountains formed an island. The hand of Nature wanted this piece of land surrounded by the sea to be divided in two, and that from this division the beautiful “shell” of São Martinho do Porto was born.
The first charter letter describing the existence of this beautiful village was granted by Friar Estevão Martins, 12th Abbot of the Convent of Alcobaça, in 1257. The bay was a sea port for the Alcobaça villages, where activities related to fishing and shipbuilding.
Given the local development and the construction of the Pier, it was around 1885 that the beach neighborhood began to resemble a second village.
Despite the fact that time has diminished the commercial importance of this port, its tourist activity and beach life itself give it a very special dynamic, full of life and happiness of the population and visitors.

The village is divided into two distinct nuclei: a low part, close to the beach, more dedicated to tourist activity; and the upper part, decorated with the dwellings of the locals and the Igreja Matriz.

Source: Turismo do Município de Alcobaça
https://freguesiasaomartinhodoporto.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Mapa-da-Vila.pdf
Image source: https://www.cm-alcobaca.pt/pt/28215/sao-martinho-do-porto.aspx