Day 6 – Madeira: Caminho Real do Paul do Mar
Another gloomy morning in Porto Moniz. Stelios woke up at 8:30am to grab breakfast and I slept in until 10am. Today’s plan was to drive towards the sun, do a coastal hike, and get the hell out of Porto Moniz until it was time to go back to bed. We dressed for a hike and packed our bathing suits & change of clothes to throw in the car. I hadn’t eaten yet so I quickly googled for a local bakery along our route to the hiking spot. We pulled up at Padaria Rodripan and it appeared to be someone’s house, and they converted the first level into a bakery. I ordered an espresso and coconut pastry called Quejada do Coco and Stelios had a coffee with carrot cake. A very sweet but scrumptious breakfast.
By 12pm we were back on the road and driving through another rain cloud and passed a big bull. After 25 minutes of driving we came out on the other side of it to a sunny day and clear blue skies. I don’t think I will ever not be surprised by the drastic change in weather here after such a short distance. And to be clear we aren’t going from rain and clouds to a partially cloudy sky – there is not a single cloud in the sky over here!
In retrospect staying in Porto Moniz, while gloomy, forced us to venture out to other areas of the island on the west coast that we might not have seen had we stayed in Funchal, so it all works out in the end. We arrived at Porto de Mar and parked next to a rocky beach that reminded me of Mavra Volia (the black rock beach in Chios, Greece).
We made our way to the starting point of the trail that had a waterfall above it and started the climb. The trail was a rocky pavement with thousands of steps leading us to the top of the mountain. This hike was harder than Pico Ruivo solely because you are climbing almost 2000 ft in 1 mile. The first 0.5 mile was STRENUOUS and we took every opportunity to take a break when we saw shade. The views and natural waterfalls made it worth it though. It felt like we were in an episode of Indiana Jones, hiking to reach a treasure at the top of the mountain.
As we continued the trek we took breaks in the shade partially to cool off but also so Stelios could answer his workers in between – talk about multi-tasking! Stelios says he’s very impressed by the cell coverage on Madeira (he has T-Mobile). About 1 hour into the hike (0.82 miles and 1329 ft elevation) we passed a couple asking if we are going to the hotel at the top and how long it took us to go up. (There’s a hotel at the top???) I checked my AllTrails app and told them we’d been hiking for 1 hour. Apparently the couple that passed them before us told them 2 hours. We did in fact reach the top which brought us to Hotel Jardim Atlantico. The hotel was located in a town called Prazeres and had beautiful views and they did an excellent job landscaping the grounds but other than that it kind of seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
We continued following the roadside path and stumbled upon a snack bar with a sign that read “fresh squeezed orange juice and lemonade” which seemed like a sign for us to stop. We were greeted by the owner, Jeff, a man from South Africa who was brought to Madeira through marriage since his wife’s family lives here. We chatted with Jeff for awhile who told us he’s been on the island for 26 years and that it’s becoming overrun with tourists post-Covid. Jeff also confirmed that Porto Moniz was indeed a tourist trap and was sorry to hear that we ended up there since we didn’t seem like “those kind of tourists”. (Thanks Jeff!) I told him we had a car so not to worry we would be escaping Porto Moniz every morning before returning to Funchal on Friday. Jeff’s snack bar was very interesting, and had lots of trinkets and funny signs. Stelios ended up ordering their lemon ginger juice and I asked Jeff if the orange juice was actually fresh (unlike the one I tried at our hotel on day 1) and he said yes – the oranges get picked and dropped off from a nearby farm and he squeezes it fresh per order. The orange juice was in fact freshly squeezed and a perfect way to replenish my electrolytes after the serious climb we just did. We thanked Jeff for the juice and his kindness, tipped him 2€ which he was appreciative of, and continued along the trail.
The 2nd part of the trail was called Jardim do Mar and was not a well paved path. Some areas were overgrown with grass and plants but nothing we weren’t used to from doing other hikes. We had to climb down rocks and navigate down some muddy and slippery steps which was a bit nerve racking. We must’ve said “we’re almost there” at least 5 times before actually making it to the bottom. My legs were shaking near the end of it but we finally made it down after a total of 5.3 miles. The end of the trail put us at a promenade along the beach with the most amazing surprise ever: AN OUTDOOR SHOWER. I immediately stuck my head under it was so refreshing.
We walked to the end of the promenade and ended up at an outdoor cafe called Portinho. We grabbed a table in the shade and ordered 2 fruit smoothies. It felt so good to finally sit down and be out of the sun. We also ordered the Lapas (similar to clams but a shellfish local to Madeira) and grilled squid in portinho sauce. I was not a fan of the Lapas – too salty for my liking and a weird flavor, but I had to try it while we were here. The squid was hands down the winner, whatever is in Portinho sauce gave it such a unique and zesty flavor. After lunch we had to call a taxi to take us back to our car because the pathway to get back to Porto do Mar was now underwater and the ocean was rough since high tide came in. It was only 2€ & only a 5 minute drive.
Back at Porto do Mar the sea was calm and clear as ever so we changed into our swimsuits and walked down the rocky beach to take a dip. We realized we forgot to pack towels and it was cooler out now so I just splashed water on myself rather than sitting in a wet bathing suit for the drive back to the hotel. Stelios dove in while I tried to get comfortable sitting on the rocks. Some people were fully laying down and lounging out on this beach, but I truly don’t understand how people find it comfortable to lay out on a rocky beach.
By 6:30pm we decided to drive back to the hotel to shower. We were both spent after today’s hike. We decided to walk across the street back to Cochinha (the only decently rated restaurant in Porto Moniz) and ordered 2 steak sandwiches and 2 glasses of red for dinner, and the passion fruit pie for dessert. The other positive realization we had for staying at our hotel was that it had a Samsung TV and had a SmartView option, so Stelios was able to stream his phone so we could watch a movie and go to bed. Goodnight.
