Wanting to buy a holiday home

We're considering buying a holiday home in CV as we've heard wonderful things from friends.  We're visiting this year and would like recommendations of where to start our property search.  Before we arrive we'd like to get other people's views to help us decide if CV is right for us and which island might suit us best.

We love idyllic beachs, lazy days, water sports, local restaurants, bars with a bit of nightlife etc but don't want to be in a noisy/bustling area, although we don't mind being in a 10 min walk of it.  That said we don't want to be isolated either with only a few properties around us.  We love experiencing local life (we don't speak Portuguese (yet) do locals speak English?).  Are foreigners buying holiday homes welcomed or are they seen as 'outsiders' and not really accepted?  Having a young family we need to feel safe .... what's crime/burglary like?  Is it safe to walk around the streets at night?

Good transport links from the airport are important too.  With young children we don't really want a 2 hr transfer to our apartment/villa.

Sorry to ask so many questions but we don't know anyone in CV to ask.

Can anyone suggest any areas to start our search?

Thank you for reading my long post.