My Escapes Portugal Madeira Escape to Lush Green Madeira Funchal's Beach, the Marina and the Port

Funchal's Beach, the Marina and the Port

The two ports and the beach area of Funchal are particularly interesting. Again, plenty of unique attractions there: from the old Beatles Yacht, a fortress, rusty cargo ships, beautiful yachts and brown sand!

The Yacht Marina and the Beatles Yacht

Funchal's small marina was full of white yachts, small boats, but there was this unique attraction - the old Beatles Yacht.
Yes, the ship belonged to The Beatles (I'm not even a fan, but I understand the importance of such a yacht).

The ship is on land and serves as a restaurant nowadays...

There are little boat-like compartments all around with tables and seats in them. You literally sit inside a boat when you order your meal.

I visited the marina several times. It was so cold at times that I thought I was in Norway!

Besides the sights, I also encountered several representatives of the local fauna - crabs!

Funchal's Beach

I frequently wandered out to the beach... I love the sound of the waves.

The crashing waves were so strong I felt like they would drag me down, even though I was only at the edge of the water, which only rose to the level of my knees.

Ice-cold water in late-September, pebbles everywhere and the sand dark brown, but very soft. It felt sell rough than on most beaches I've been too...

It looked like I was stepping on cocoa or coffee powder. I had this eerie feeling like that I wasn't even stepping on sand, but rather fine coffee!

Be extremely careful, this doesn't seem like the area where you can simply dip yourself into the water if you're not a good swimmer. There are very strong waves and irregular ocean floor. I encountered holes, plenty of huge stones and have seen strong vortexes.

It really looks dangerous. Certainly not the place where you'd want to jump into the water.

As I walked a bit further from the brown sandy beach, I found even wilder waters.
Brutal waves crashing against sharp sea cliffs and vortexes seemed to appear out of nowhere.

The Port

It's all-in-one, I guess (for cruise ships and heavy cargo boat), but further located from the marina.

In this area you have to be careful, it's easy to simply walk into the water and get drowned.

This is where the Fortaleza do Ilhéu de Nossa Senhora da Conceição fortification can be found (you can see it on the photo below - the building behind the cargo ship).
By the way, Funchal has a wonderful collection of fortifications.

I just loved watching the cargo ships, the rusty metal. Some of them were pulled onto the shore for repair work. My eyes even caught a helicopter "parked" on the land inside the port.

By the way - you can take helicopter tours on Madeira. I heard of prices ranging from 70 to 100 USD for a half-hour flight.

Further Along the Shore

I also ventured westwards along the shoreline to encounter more and more places in Funchal.
The area seemed filled with hotels, but barely a few souls were walking around. Mainly locals.
In September, tourism season on Madeira is considered "over".

As I was walking further, I found myself in an area full of green plants, cactuses, but I even saw plantations of bananas.

Then I came across a ruined old building on the shoreline...

This western near-shore area of Funchal is more modern, an area full of modern hotels, large buildings. When here, I felt like in a different city.

This totally changed my previous perception of Funchal... Of course, this area seemed almost deserted.

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