Praia da Calheta
Golden sand shipped in from Morocco fills two sheltered man-made bays with calm, swimmable water.
- Beach
Don Amaro (CC BY 2.0)
Good to know
- Type
- Beach
- Best for
- calm family swimming
Nearby beaches on Madeira
Other shores worth the trip — tap through to each beach's guide.
© VinceTraveller (CC BY 2.0) Seixal Beach (Praia do Porto do Seixal)
Natural black volcanic sand and tidal rock pools tucked beneath towering green north-coast cliffs.
© Hannes Grobe (CC BY-SA 2.5) Porto Moniz Natural Pools
Not sand but lava - seawater-fed volcanic rock pools where families swim sheltered from Atlantic waves.
© muffinn (CC BY 2.0) Machico Beach (Praia da Banda d'Alem)
A crescent of imported Moroccan sand in the town bay, sheltered by two breakwaters for easy swimming.
© Michael Gaylard (CC BY 2.0) Prainha (Canical)
Madeira's only naturally sandy beach - a small coppery-black cove hidden near the Sao Lourenco tip.
© Cristina Perneta (CC BY-SA 4.0) Porto Santo Beach (Praia do Porto Santo)
Nine kilometres of soft golden sand on its own island - the archipelago's only genuinely long sandy beach.
Praia da Calheta on the map
This beach is the larger gold pin; the other gold dots are nearby beaches on Madeira (numbered by island rank) — toggle them with the Filters control.
Praia da Calheta · Nearby beaches on Madeira · 6 beaches