Piscinas Oceânicas da Praia das Maçãs (Sintra Sol)

Praia das Maçãs is one of Sintra’s best-known beaches, at the end of the old tram line from Sintra. Sintra council’s beach page notes that, alongside shops, cafés and restaurants, it has a saltwater pool (piscina de água salgada). That pool is the Piscinas Oceânicas da Praia das Maçãs, part of the Sintra Sol complex and run by Turismo Sintra Litoral.

There are two pools, both filled with seawater. The large pool has a water slide (escorrega) and a diving platform with its own roped-off landing area. The smaller pool is only for children up to the age of 10 and has small children’s slides. Around them are lawns, a café, a bar and an ice-cream kiosk. The site can hold up to 1,500 people, although the management may cap numbers lower for comfort.

For families, the appeal is simple. The Atlantic on this coast is cold and often rough. Here children get salt water, slides and jumping without the waves.

The pools open for the summer season, which a local news report in August 2026 gave as 1 June to 15 September, with hours of 09:30 to 19:00. The operator’s own rules confirm closing time at 19:00, so plan changing time before then.

Tickets are sold only at the gate on the day. There’s no advance purchase and, apart from rare exceptions, no refunds. Prices depend on age, the day of the week and the time you arrive, with weekends dearer and late-afternoon tickets cheaper. The news report put children’s tickets from €3. Under-3s go in free, and there are reduced prices for ages 3 to 5 and 6 to 10, so staff may ask for your children’s citizen cards (cartão de cidadão).

Your ticket covers the pools and lawns. Sunshades, “lounge” sunshades with two loungers, and single loungers are rented at the ticket office. If a sunshade matters to you, check there are some left before you pay, because the ticket is valid either way. You can’t bring your own parasols, chairs or tents. There are no exit passes, so once you leave, you pay again.

The rules for the big pool are strict, and worth explaining to children before you arrive:

• Only one person on the slide at a time, and only once it’s clear.
• Feet first, facing forward, hands inside, without goggles, jewellery or clothes with buttons.
• Anyone under 1.20 m tall can’t use the slides.
• On the diving platform, one person at a time; climb only when it’s empty and check the landing area is clear before jumping.
• Leave the landing zone straight away after jumping. It is marked off by a blue floating divider.

Staff can close the slide or the platform at any time, without any change to the ticket price. People who can’t swim may not stay in the big pool.

The children’s slides in the small pool are for under-10s, and the rules ask the adults with them to supervise.

• Under-10s must come with a parent or another adult, and bring ID.
• The small pool is only for children up to 10, plus adults helping a child who needs support.
• Children must wear swimwear in the water at any age.
• Under-2s must wear swim nappies, and no baby may be in either pool without a disposable nappy.
• Armbands and rings for children are allowed. Lilos, fins, balls, inflatable boats and boards are not, unless staff agree.
• Shower before swimming, walk through the footbath and use flip-flops or water shoes on the pool edge.
• Children over 8 must use the changing room for their own sex.

The operator doesn’t allow proper meals, picnics or hard cool boxes on the lawns or pool edges, except food for babies or food prescribed for medical reasons. Glass is banned, and you can’t eat right beside the pools. The café, bar and ice-cream kiosk sell food on site, but you can’t take outside food into their seating areas either.

Pack swimwear, flip-flops, sun cream (no oils in the water), swim nappies, armbands for non-swimmers, and the children’s ID cards.

The historic Sintra tram (Elétrico de Sintra) links Sintra town with Praia das Maçãs in about 40 to 45 minutes, which turns the trip into part of the day out. Parking at the complex serves pool visitors only. In the surrounding beach zone, Sintra council charges for parking from 08:00 to 20:00: in summer from €0.45 for 15 minutes up to €4 for four hours.

If some of the family would rather swim in the sea, Praia das Maçãs itself was on the Blue Flag list for 2026. The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) listed it as an accessible beach with an amphibious chair, a floating wheelchair that lets someone with limited mobility into the water. Lifeguards covered the official bathing season, which ran from 30 May to 13 September in 2026, and there’s a first-aid post, toilets and showers.

APA classifies the water as excellent, its top grade. It also flags a risk of rockfall, so keep children away from the foot of the cliffs at either end of the sand. This is the open Atlantic, with waves and currents, so on rough days the pools are the easier place for small children to swim.

Further north along the coast, the Azenhas do Mar ocean pool sits beneath a clifftop village. Inland, Quinta da Regaleira and Convento dos Capuchos make a cooler half-day in the Sintra hills.

Is there a children’s pool at Praia das Maçãs?

Yes. The smaller pool is only for children up to 10, with small slides.

Can my child use the big slide?

Only if they’re at least 1.20 m tall, go one at a time and slide feet first.

Can we bring a picnic?

No. Picnics, full meals and hard cool boxes aren’t allowed, except baby food. There’s a café, bar and ice-cream kiosk.

Are armbands allowed?

Yes. Armbands and rings for children are allowed; lilos and balls are not.

Is Praia das Maçãs a lifeguarded beach?

Yes, in the bathing season. In 2026 lifeguards were on duty from 30 May to 13 September, and the beach had a Blue Flag and an amphibious chair.

Can we buy tickets online?

No. Tickets are sold only at the gate on the day.