Part of our complete guide: Activities and tours on Madeira
The spots
Garajau (Caniço), from about €35, three hours. The classic: kayak plus snorkelling in the marine reserve. Over 950 reviews at 4.9. Large dusky groupers, parrotfish, cuttlefish; the animals have been protected for decades and behave accordingly. If you book one water activity and do not need whales, book this one.
Ponta de São Lourenço (Caniçal/Machico), from about €40. Clear water off the eastern tip, often by boat rather than kayak. Scenically the most spectacular stretch of coast.
Calheta / Ponta da Calheta, from about €41, 1.5 hours. Shorter, calmer, west.
Porto Santo, from about €49, three hours. Guided snorkelling in protected water — shallower and sandier than Madeira, and therefore brighter.
Snorkelling only, eco-park or by boat: from €19, two hours. The entry version without paddling.
What is included
Kayak or double kayak, buoyancy aid, mask and snorkel, usually a shorty wetsuit, a dry barrel for phone and keys, guide. Many operators hand over photos afterwards at no charge.
What to watch for
- You need to swim; experience you do not.
- Sun protection: back and the backs of your knees. Snorkelling, you feel nothing until it is too late. Reef-safe cream, or better a lycra top.
- Afternoons get windy on the south coast — morning slots are calmer.
- Minimum age usually 6–8 in a double kayak.
- In swell they switch from kayak to boat, or cancel.
Book it or do it yourself?
Both work here. Snorkelling you can do alone: mask and snorkel cost €15–20 in Funchal, and the pebble beach at Garajau, plus the natural pools at Porto Moniz, Seixal and Doca do Cavacas, are all free to enter.
Booking the kayak is worth it because rentals are scarce and the coast is tricky — offshore wind and swell along cliffs is not beginner terrain.
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Next: Diving · Catamaran and boat trips · East Madeira
