Porto Moniz Natural Pools

Porto Moniz sits at the north-western corner of Madeira where a lava flow reached the sea and solidified into a broken shelf of black basalt, and hollows in that rock have been adapted into swimming pools filled and flushed by the Atlantic breaking over the outer edge. There are two sets: the main complex with paid entry, changing rooms, lifeguards and ladders into the water, and an older free area at the other end of the village with rougher rock and fewer facilities. The water is genuinely seawater, cool, and the rock is sharp and covered in barnacles, so shoes help. On calm days it is a sheltered, clear place to swim with the ocean crashing a few metres away; when a north swell runs the pools close, because waves come straight over them, and the closures are frequent in winter.

What you actually see

• The lava pools - hollows in black basalt filled by breaking Atlantic waves.
• The two complexes - a managed ticketed area and an older free one.
• The flushing - water renewed constantly by swell over the outer shelf.
• The north coast - a cliff-backed village at Madeira's north-western corner.

When to go

May to October for the calmest seas. Two to four hours. Check whether the pools are open - north swell closes them, often for days at a time in winter.

Honest expectations

Closures are common in swell and are not negotiable. The rock is sharp with barnacles - water shoes are worth having. Water is cool even in summer. The paid complex is busy with coach groups in the middle of the day.

Nearby

Seixal is east along the north coast; Fanal is on the plateau above.