Costa de Caparica is a Portuguese civil parish, located in the municipality of Almada along the western coast of the district of Setubal. The population in 2011 was 13,418. Since 9 December 2004, the Costa de Caparica has been designated as city within the urban hierarchy of Portugal.

Situated on the occidental coast of the Peninsula of Setubal, the territory is the result of ocean receding, between the water and main escarpment. The space is one large beach resulting from progressive decline from the east to the sea. Its coastal extent represents the largest contiguous beach in Portugal, with an expanse of approximately 30 kilometres, from the left margin of the Tagus River to the estuary of Albufeira. Popular in the summer with tourists and local visitors, the beaches have suffered from erosion in recent years; several levels of Portuguese government have taken steps to reduce these patterns, but the erosion has continued at several of the beaches located closest to the mouth of the Tagus.

Portugal is bisected by geological and geomorphological landscapes of important interest, both for its scientific and natural appeal, such as the Costa da Caparica Fossil Cliff Protected Landscape (Portuguese: Paisagem Protegida da Arriba Fossil da Costa da Caparica), a prehistoric beach landscape near Terras da Costa, that consist of intricately carved cliffs and erosional deposits, intersected by ravines and clifftops covered in vegetation. Its relative proximity to urban development and sprawl, coupled with progressive deterioration resulted in the 22 May 1984 decree-law 168/84 that constituted the Paisagem Protegida with the hope of preserving the geomorphological characteristics and the natural communities that existed within the territory, promoting a balance between the biology and landscape. On 24 November 2008, in a Council of Ministers resolution (178/2008) provided a mechanism for safeguarding the resources and natural value, establishing a specific use and management strategy for the area.

Although the Arriba Fossil is the dominant scenic element of the protected area (PPAFCC), within its limits is the Reserva Botanica da Mata Nacional dos Medos (Botanical Reserve of the National Game Preserve of Medos), also referred to as Pinhal do Rei (the King's Pineforest), on which King John V of Portugal ordered the seeding of lands to reduce dune encroachment and deforestation. Also under the management of the PPAFCC, is the Mata das Dunas da Costa da Caparica e Trafaria (Dunes Game Preserve of Costa da Caprica and Trafaria), at the base of the beach; a 600 hectare area of forest, the Mata das Dunas is a natural forest still maintained.