More on land

Climbers find solid basalt across the island, inland in the mountains and on sea cliffs, and IFCN lists three climbing sites open to licensing. Coasteering, a mix of walking, swimming, climbing and jumping into the sea along the shore, happens mostly in the Ponta de São Lourenço reserve, around Baía d’Abra.

Bird watchers look for the Madeira firecrest, at 9 to 10 cm the island’s smallest bird, the Madeiran chaffinch and the Trocaz pigeon of the laurel forest; Zino’s petrel, one of the rarest seabirds in the world, nests only in a small area of the mountains above 1,600 m. Horse riding is on Porto Santo, at its equestrian centre, and 4x4 tours reach remote mountain roads on both islands.