The west is the answer to a rained-out holiday day. Ponta do Sol carries the sun in its name and delivers it statistically too: the south-west coast gets the least rainfall on the island, because the clouds driven by the north-east trade wind hang on the mountains before they ever reach it.
Calheta has the larger of the island’s two imported sand beaches — the sand comes from North Africa, the bay is shielded by two moles, and it stays swimmable on days when the open Atlantic does not cooperate. The second one is in Machico in the east.
Jardim do Mar and Paul do Mar are two villages below the cliff line, once linked only by a footpath, today reached through tunnels. In the 1990s Jardim do Mar was one of Europe’s better-known surf addresses; the sea wall changed the wave, and the village stayed quiet.
Above, at 300 to 600 metres, the levada network around Prazeres and Ponta do Pargo begins. Higher still, at around 1,150 metres, lies Fanal — the stand of gnarled til laurels that forms part of the Laurissilva UNESCO World Heritage site.
Driving time from Funchal: 35 minutes to Ponta do Sol, 50 to Calheta, 60 to Paul do Mar.
