Calheta.net logoCalheta.net

Village · Settlement-era fishing village

Paul do Mar

Updated 2026Checked on footWest of Calheta, below the Prazeres cliffs

A long, thin fishing village pinned between a very high cliff and the Atlantic, reached by a switchback road or a tunnel. It takes the most exposed swell on this coast, has a working fishing harbour, and a seafront of small restaurants where the fish is landed a few metres away.

The seafront of Paul do Mar beneath its cliff wall on Madeira's west coast
Paul do Mar · Settlement-era fishing villageHarald Lordick / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Period
Settlement-era fishing village
Location
About 13 km by road, roughly 20 minutes' drive
Entry
Free
Hours
Open access
Time Needed
2 hours, or lunch

Hours and prices last checked 2026, they change, so confirm on the day.

History

How it came to be

One of the eight parishes of Calheta, historically a fishing settlement cut off by its own topography. The cliff road above it is a piece of engineering in its own right. Its beach break has long been a fixture of Madeiran surfing.

What You'll See

On a visit

The harbour and the fish landing; the seafront promenade; the cliff wall behind the village, which is genuinely startling from below; and the surf, often the biggest on the island's south-west.

How to Visit

By car from Prazeres down the switchbacks, or through the tunnel from Jardim do Mar. Parking along the seafront.

Best Time

Midday, when the seafront restaurants are open

Getting There

Location
About 13 km by road, roughly 20 minutes' drive · West of Calheta, below the Prazeres cliffs
Directions
Open in Google Maps

Good to Know

For the setting and the seafront fish restaurants, yes. It is about 20 minutes from Calheta and the descent, or the tunnel, is part of the experience.

The shore is exposed pebble and boulder with real Atlantic swell, so it is a surfers' coast rather than a bathing beach. For calm water, use the enclosed beach at Calheta.

Read More

Guides on Calheta.net

Nearby Landmarks

All 12 landmarks →
The clifftop village of Prazeres above the west coast of Madeira
Settlement-era parish

Prazeres

A quiet clifftop parish above Paul do Mar, on the shelf where the west coast levels out before it falls away. It is the practical base for walking this end of the island and the top of the old zig-zag path down to the sea.

The village of Jardim do Mar on its coastal shelf below the cliffs west of Calheta
Settlement-era village

Jardim do Mar

A small parish on a shelf of land below the cliffs, with cobbled lanes too narrow for cars and a boulder shore that made its name in surfing. Until the coast road tunnels were built, getting here meant a footpath. It still feels like the end of something.

The red-walled Casa das Mudas manor house above Calheta, which gives the museum its name
Building opened 2004

MUDAS, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Madeira

Madeira's contemporary art museum, and the most serious piece of architecture on this coast. Paulo David's building is cut into the headland above the town in local basalt, so it reads as an extension of the cliff rather than an object placed on it. Inside are around 400 works of Portuguese contemporary art from the 1960s onwards, plus temporary exhibitions, an auditorium, a shop and a café-restaurant with the view.

All LandmarksDay TripsRestaurantsWhere to Stay

Something missing or incorrect? Email us at info@calheta.net