Porto Moniz: the natural pools, what they cost and how to get there

What is actually here

Lava reached the sea here and cooled into a field of black rock. The Atlantic works through the gaps and fills a run of pools. A bathing complex was built around the largest of them. That's what people drive to the far corner of the island for.

The village behind the pools is small. You come for an afternoon, swim, eat, then carry on round the west. I'd give it half a day, not a whole one.

The pools, and what they cost

Entry is €3 for anyone over 3. A student card or a 65+ card brings it down to €1.50. A municipal card costs €0.50. Under 3s go free, and so does anyone with a 60% disability card.

The gate opens at 09:00 all year. Closing is 17:00 in winter and 19:00 in summer.

You get a swimming area of 3,800 m², about two metres deep. There's a children's pool, changing rooms, a bar and a car park. Lifeguards are on duty.

Nothing is heated. You're swimming in the Atlantic, on the cooler side of the island.

The free set by the aquarium

There's a second set of pools at the other end of the village, by the aquarium, and it costs nothing. The municipality lists it as a free bathing area, with no gate and no ticket. People call it Cachalote, after the restaurant beside it.

I'd pay the €3 when you want a lifeguard, a shower and somewhere to leave a bag. On a calm morning the free rock does the same job.

The aquarium and the cable car

The aquarium sits in the fort above the pools: 12 tanks and more than 90 native species. Adults pay €7. Children aged 5 to 14 and over-65s pay €4. In a group of five or more it's €5 each. Doors are open 10:00 to 18:00 every day.

At Achadas da Cruz, in the same municipality, a cable car drops off the cliff edge to a strip of farmland by the water. One way costs €3, a return €5. With a 65+, student or reduced-mobility card you pay €1 and €2.

Getting there without a car

One bus a day goes straight there. Line 80 leaves Funchal at 10:00 and reaches Porto Moniz at 13:00. It starts back at 16:00, so you get three hours in the village and about three on the road each way.

Line 139 takes the tunnels by São Vicente. It leaves Funchal at 07:35 and gets in at 10:45.

That timetable is why most people come in a hire car or on a tour. The list below shows how long each trip stops.

The sea decides the day

These pools take the swell straight from the north. On a big day the sea is the show and swimming isn't part of it.

IPMA publishes a marine forecast for this bathing area: sea height, swell, wave period and water temperature. Read it the night before you drive.

The village has its own weather station, and the reading at the top of this page comes from it. That's the temperature here, not a forecast for the island. Funchal often runs several degrees warmer at the same hour, which is why you see both figures.

Tours that stop here, and for how long

The trips we've published that stop at Porto Moniz, longest stop first. The time is how long that trip stays here, not how long the day is.

17 more published trips stop here for 2 hours or less. Prices and ratings as of 21 September 2026. Ratings combine Viator and Tripadvisor. All 4x4 jeep tours of west Madeira → · All west Madeira day tours from Funchal → · All Madeira tours that pick up outside Funchal → · All private tours of Madeira →

Marked routes in this municipality

Status from the IFCN table of classified routes, re-read at every build and again in your browser. All routes with today’s status.