Piscinas Naturais do Porto Moniz

• Outdoors
• Any age
• Children free
• Just turn up

Lava pools the Atlantic fills and refreshes, fenced and lifeguarded, with a separate children's pool and a playground on the terrace.

The picture everyone has seen of Madeira, and one of the few swimming places on the island that is genuinely set up for small children: shallow pool, permanent lifeguards, showers and a café on the same terrace. Two hours from Funchal by the north road, so it is a day rather than an afternoon.

Worth knowing: The free pools alongside, by the Cachalote restaurant, look identical and are not: no lifeguard and no shallow pool. Pay the three euros.

Opening hours

Mon

09:00-19:00

Tue

09:00-19:00

Wed

09:00-19:00

Thu

09:00-19:00

Fri

09:00-19:00

Sat

09:00-19:00

Sun

09:00-19:00

Prices

3 € for anyone over three, free at three and under. 0.50 € with a municipal resident card, 1.50 € on a student or senior card, free with a disability card of 60 percent or more. Loungers extra.

Season

Open all year, but the north coast takes the swell: in a winter storm the sea closes the pools outright.

Getting there

Prices and opening times change without notice, and on this island they change often. Everything here carries the date it was checked in our research notes; if a place has moved or closed, tell us and we will fix it.