03.07.2025 – Coastal cruise

Today was the day our traditional fishing vessel, the Ribeira Brava was refuelled. This though is not possible here in Calheta where she normally stays. Instead we have to take her to Funchal, the capital of the island. It takes around 2h to do drive from Calheta to Funchal and on that way we can beautifully appreciate the southern coast of Madeira. It starts obviously with Calheta, an important sugarcane production site. In the town you can find one of the oldest sugarcane mills of the island, where rum and other products derived from sugarcane were produced.

The next larger town is then Madalena do Mar. This town is known for bananas. The town is surrounded by terraces full of banana plantations. In between this town and the next, Ponta do Sol, there are several waterfalls which can be appreciated on a walk on the coastal road.

Ponta do Sol is the sunniest place of Madeira. In the past Ponta do Sol was important for the logistics of the western part of the island, as with its pier it was the safest place to land goods coming from the east for the west or to load them on boats to bring to the east.

Ribeira Brava, the wild river, is the town following if you drive eastwards on the island. This town lays at the mouth of a deep and steep valley which was carved out by the river over the years. Nowadays Ribeira is important as it is the main link with the highways towards the north coast.

The next landmark is not a town, instead a cliff. I speak about Cabo Girão. With 580m Cabo Girão is the highest promontory of the island and of Europe. In the past it was an important landmark for navigation, but nowadays the skywalk is one of the main attractions of the islands.

Next stop would be Câmera do Lobos, the original “home” of our Ribeira Brava. In the past and nowadays this town was and is still an important fishing centre of the island. Apart from that, Câmera do Lobos was also the first settlement created on Madeira and gets its name from the former large seal colony living there.

Our final stop is then finally Funchal, the capital of the island. The name Funchal comes from the Portuguese word “Funcho”, which means Fennel, which grew extensively in the area. Nowadays it is the cultural and economical center of the Madeiran archipelago.

Although our traditional vessel did this cruise, our other vessel went out to search for whales and dolphins. Those trips were a success as we could appreciate the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) and the Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

By Horst Schulte

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

14:00 Atlantic spotted dolphin

Stenella

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphin

16:30 Atlantic spotted dolphin