🤿 Adventure2 days

Marine reserve and western waves

Garajau · Prainha · Jardim do Mar · PR 19 · paragliders · Ponta do Sol

At a glance

The east in the water, then the surfers' west: the world-famous waves of Jardim do Mar, the cobbled royal road tumbling down to Paul do Mar and its limpets, the Arco da Calheta paragliding take-off and the Ponta do Sol sunset.

Difficulty: Moderate · 534 m of steps downhill · 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.

Day 2 · Jardim do Mar waves, royal road and paragliders7

📍 Jardim do Mar → Prazeres → Paul do Mar → Arco da Calheta → Ponta do Sol · ⏰ 07:30 · 🚗 ~1 h 36

08:45 → 09:00Photoby car · 45 min · ~45 min
Jardim do Mar viewpoint
At the entrance to the parish, the viewpoint picks out the village on its fajã below the high cliffs and the west coast; free, to combine with the Piarro viewpoint higher up.
📍 Miradouro do Jardim do Mar
09:05 → 10:00Visitby car · 1 min · ~1 min
Jardim do Mar, surfers' village
The village set on a fajã below the cliffs, narrow lanes and a restored mill, with the Portinho and Enseada waves — Red Bull Big Wave Challenge, a world-championship stop — reserved for experts. Watch from the seafront.
📍 Jardim do Mar
10:30 → 11:50Visitby car · 15 min · ~15 min
PR 19 Caminho Real do Paul do Mar, zigzag descent
Only 1.8 km but 534 m of cobbled steps down from Prazeres to Paul do Mar, about 1h20, from the Lombo da Rocha viewpoint: part of the island's heritage of difficult access; back up by car or taxi. SIMplifica booking.
💡 Insider tip — PR 20 to Jardim do Mar is closed in 2026.
12:00 → 13:15Mealon foot
Grilled limpets in Paul do Mar
A fishing centre whose fish makes its restaurants' reputation, a former tuna cannery (1912), limpet festival in July: lunch of grilled limpets in garlic butter facing the surfers' waves.
📍 Paul do Mar
14:30 → 15:30Photoby taxi · 20 min · ~20 min
Achada de Santo Antão, paragliding take-off
The "Farol Verde" atop the Arco da Calheta cliff, a paragliding take-off site above Madalena do Mar: views over the south-west coast, free — watch the afternoon flights, or book a tandem.
📍 Miradouro da Achada de Santo Antão (Farol Verde)
16:30 → 19:00Breakby car · 15 min · ~15 min
Ponta do Sol, sunset over the cove
The 160 m pebble cove of the island's sunniest little town: in the evening the sunset reflects on the sea — the best moment. Supervised 10 June – 14 September; summer library on the beach.
📍 Praia da Ponta do Sol
19:15Mealon foot · 1 min · ~1 min
Dinner in Ponta do Sol
The municipality with the most hours of sunshine on the island, bananas and sugar cane: dinner on the seafront after sunset, half an hour from Funchal.
📍 Ponta do Sol

💡 The Jardim do Mar and Paul do Mar spots are for experienced surfers only — beginners find schools at Porto da Cruz; PR 19 is walked down (534 m of steps) and taxied back up.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — The official advice is to give up the trails in heavy rain, wind or hail: São Vicente caves, Ribeira Brava Ethnographic Museum, Madeira Story Centre, or the more sheltered south-coast viewpoint road.

🎒 What to bring — Walking shoes, 1.5 L of water per person, snacks, windbreaker and a warm layer — the peaks are windy and cold even in fine weather —, sunscreen, head torch for tunnels, SIMplifica booking on your phone.

PR trails: since 1 January 2026 you book a 30-minute slot on SIMplifica — €4.50 per trail (full PR 1 €10.50), free for residents and children up to 12, registration compulsory even when exempt.
Closures are decided officially (weather, safety, works); a weather warning does not close a trail automatically. Check the official status the day before and on the morning itself.
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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