This beach is attached to small cliffs made of bioclastic limestones of the Miocene Lagos-Portimão Formation. This formation is fossil-rich, with numerous invertebrates and rhodoliths. The cliffs have a karstic morphology with sinkholes filled with Plio-Pleistocene sands and mudstones. Other features related to litoral erosion are wave-cut platforms, sea stacks and wave notches at different heights in the cliffs faces, which indicate Pleistocene sea level changes.