Porto da Cruz (north), from about \u20ac65.<\/strong> The island’s beginner spot: sand, consistent waves, a village with surf schools and caf\u00e9s. Most lessons happen here.<\/p>\n Machico (east), from about \u20ac70.<\/strong> Madeira’s one large yellow sand beach (imported), a sheltered bay, relaxed conditions.<\/p>\n S\u00e3o Vicente (north), from about \u20ac65, 1.5 hours.<\/strong> Short format, good as a test.<\/p>\n Funchal, from about \u20ac75, four hours.<\/strong> With pickup \u2014 the lesson still happens elsewhere, usually in the north. What you are paying for is largely the drive.<\/p>\n Jardim do Mar and Paul do Mar<\/strong> in the west are famous waves \u2014 and not beginner spots. Nobody teaches there; people watch.<\/p>\n Unlike almost everything else on this island, winter is the better season<\/strong>: the North Atlantic swells run October to March, and water around 19 \u00b0C is entirely fine in a wetsuit. Summer is often too flat \u2014 lessons get moved or cancelled.<\/p>\n Board, wetsuit, instructor, usually photos. Full-day formats often include a transfer from Funchal. You bring swimwear, a towel and plenty of sun cream.<\/p>\n As a beginner: take the lesson. Renting a board without a briefing on a coast of rock and current is a poor idea. If you already surf, rent on the spot in Porto da Cruz or Jardim do Mar \u2014 that runs through the surf schools directly, not booking portals.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 See all surf lessons on GetYourGuide<\/a> (Affiliate link)<\/small><\/p>\n Next: Snorkelling and kayaking<\/a> \u00b7 Diving<\/a> \u00b7 North Madeira<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nine courses from around \u20ac65, mostly two to four hours. A small category with uniformly good ratings \u2014 Madeira is known as a surf destination, but mainly for experienced surfers. There is exactly a handful of beaches suitable for beginners, and the lessons concentrate there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":71,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coast-ocean"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonmadeira.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}When<\/h2>\n
What is included<\/h2>\n
What to watch for<\/h2>\n
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Book it or do it yourself?<\/h2>\n