Praia da Rocha is a beach resort at the mouth of the Arade River, just south of Portimão in the Algarve. The main beach is wide and long, backed by eroded sandstone cliffs and sea stacks in characteristic Algarve orange-red. The 16th-century Fortaleza de Santa Catarina stands at the eastern end of the beach, where the river meets the sea.
The resort is one of the older and more established in the Algarve, with a strip of restaurants, bars, and hotels along the clifftop Avenida Tomás Cabreira. It gets crowded in July and August but is significantly quieter in May–June and September. To the west, Praia dos Três Castelos and Praia do Vau are less crowded extensions of the same coastline.
Portimão, a short walk or bus ride north, is the nearest town with a market, supermarkets, and the Museu de Portimão (housed in a former sardine factory — one of the best regional museums in Portugal). The fishing village of Ferragudo sits across the Arade river, and boat trips to the spectacular Benagil sea caves leave daily from the marina.