Towns & villages · 50 m above the sea
Jardim do Mar
A cliffside village whose wave made it a 1990s big-wave surf legend.
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The place
First surfed in 1977 by a French journalist who found locals had never seen anyone ride a wave, Jardim do Mar became a global big-wave name by the 1990s, dubbed the Jewel of the Atlantic. A 2003 seawall built to protect the village cut the ride from hours to about an hour of surfable tide, a trade-off the village still argues about.
When to come
Winter for the biggest swells; any season for the cobbled lanes and terraced cliffs.
Worth knowing
- Tiny one-lane streets, park at the village edge
- PR19 climbs steeply up to Prazeres from here
- Best wave viewing from the harbor wall in winter swell
- About 45 minutes west of Funchal