Praia de areias douradas e foz do rio que lhe dá o nome, conta-se que no Outono o rio transportava até ao areal muitas maçãs provenientes das quintas que atravessava, dando o nome à praia.
A povoação apenas começou a despontar nos finais do século XIX, quando o padre Matias del Campo, pároco de Colares, um habitante das Azenhas do Mar de nome Manuel Prego e o compositor e pintor Alfredo Keil, autor de "A Portuguesa", construíram como três primeiras casas.
Possui um extenso areal, proporcionando a prática de esportes de praia, pelo que é muito frequentado por adeptos de esportes aquáticos, como bodyboard e surf. À volta do areal, com cerca de 250 metros, instalaram-se várias casas de comércio, desde restaurantes a cafés e bares, bem como casas de artesanato local, pelo que o local se tornou num ponto de encontro dos sintrenses, que aproveitam as suas esplanadas e uma excelente comida, no Verão ou Inverno.
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Golden sand beach and the mouth of the river that gives it its name. It is said that in autumn the river would carry many apples from the farms it crossed to the sands, giving the beach its name.
The town only began to emerge at the end of the 19th century, when Father Matias del Campo, parish priest of Colares, a resident of Azenhas do Mar named Manuel Prego and the composer and painter Alfredo Keil, author of "A Portuguesa", built the first three houses.
However, in prehistoric times, humans were already there and left traces of this and various materials from the Chalcolithic period (plaque idols, ceramics, flint, etc.). On the left bank of the mouth of the Rio das Maçãs, on a hill called Alto da Vigia, there is said to have been a temple dedicated to the Sun and the Moon.
In the 16th century, André de Resende and Francisco de Holanda, among others, came into contact with the ruins of these sanctuaries, as the former collected some epigraphic inscriptions and the latter designed, in his book "Da Fábrica que Falece à Cidade de Lisboa", a reconstruction of the ancient Temple of the Sun and the Moon.
It has a large sandy beach, which is ideal for beach sports, and is therefore very popular with water sports enthusiasts, such as bodyboarding and surfing. Several shops have been set up around the sand, which is around 250 metres long, including restaurants, cafés and bars, as well as local craft shops, which has made the place a meeting point for the people of Sintra, who enjoy its terraces and excellent food, in summer or winter.
Next to the beach, there is a saltwater swimming pool, a children's playground and a space for inventories. At the far ends of the beach, both on the left and right sides, there are slabs/rocks where you can fish with some stability.