🤿 Adventure1 day

A day in the water, out east

Garajau · kayak · Machico · Prainha · Ponta do Rosto

At a glance

The Garajau marine reserve by mask and kayak in the morning, lunch on Machico bay, the volcanic-sand Prainha in the afternoon and the Ponta do Rosto viewpoint, where both coasts are visible, for the evening light.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate · mask and snorkel · beach cable car
Best season: 2026 bathing seasons: from mid-April (Porto Moniz) or early June to mid/late September depending on the beach, with lifeguards; water 18 °C to 24 °C. Off season, seawater pools and caution.

🎒 Packing list

Mask, snorkel, rash vest
Water shoes for the pebbles
Sunscreen, hat, windbreaker for the boat
Water 1.5 L and snacks
Walking shoes for Ponta de São Lourenço
SIMplifica bookings (PR 8, Cabo Girão) and boat trips

Day by day

Day 1 · Snorkelling at Garajau, kayak, then Prainha6

📍 Garajau → Machico → Caniçal → Ponta de São Lourenço · ⏰ 07:30 · 🚗 ~1 h 18

08:45 → 11:15Breakby car · 20 min · ~20 min
Garajau beach: snorkelling in the reserve
A cable car drops you into the Garajau Partial Nature Reserve (1986): calm clear water, dusky groupers and manta rays, no fishing, non-motorised sports only. Supervised 15 June – 15 September; go in the morning, before the strong sun.
📍 Praia do Garajau
💡 Insider tip — scuba diving on SIMplifica booking.
11:15 → 12:45Visiton foot
Kayaking in the Garajau reserve
📍 Reserva Natural Parcial do Garajau
13:30 → 14:45Mealby car · 25 min · ~25 min
Lunch on Machico bay
After the shadeless peninsula, Machico bay and its terraces: black-scabbard fillet, grilled limpets, bolo do caco — then Banda d'Além beach (supervised 16 June – 27 September) for a siesta.
📍 Machico
15:00 → 17:00Breakby car · 15 min · ~15 min
Prainha, volcanic sand and fossils
The little copper-sand beach near Ponta de São Lourenço, below the Piedade fossil dunes (300,000 years) and the 16th-century chapel. Blue Flag, supervised 30 June – 27 September — the swim after the walk on the peninsula.
📍 Prainha (Caniçal)
17:15 → 17:45Photoby car · 3 min · ~3 min
Ponta do Rosto, both coasts
The only viewpoint showing both the north and south coasts at once: cliffs, a gull colony, Cory's shearwaters and Bulwer's petrels, Porto Santo in clear weather. Reachable by car on the Baía d'Abra road, free.
📍 Miradouro da Ponta do Rosto
19:00Mealby car · 15 min · ~15 min
Dinner on Machico bay
The bay where the island's history began in 1419, with the Desertas in the background: fish or espetada dinner on the seafront, twenty minutes from Funchal by the expressway.
📍 Machico

💡 In the Garajau reserve only non-motorised sports are allowed: mask and snorkel in the morning when the water is calmest, kayak with a school. Save Ponta do Rosto for the evening light.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — Rough sea or red flag: Whale Museum (Tue–Sun 10–6), Madeira Story Centre, seawater pools of the bathing complexes, Aquário da Madeira in Porto Moniz.

🎒 What to bring — Swimsuit, towel, mask and snorkel, water shoes for the pebbles and volcanic rocks, hat and sunscreen, 1.5 L of water, windbreaker for the boat.

Garajau reserve: no fishing, non-motorised water sports only, diving on SIMplifica booking; the beach is reached by cable car.
Sun: the National Maritime Authority advises avoiding the sun between 11 am and 4 pm and drinking regularly — hence beach time early and late in the day.
Swimming: lifeguards only during the bathing season set by a regional order of 2026; follow the flags — red = no swimming — and never go into the water to rescue someone: call 112.
Narrow, winding mountain roads, tunnels and fog: journey minutes are estimates without traffic or photo stops — allow extra time.

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