Warm sand, lapas and sunset

📍 Fontinha → Vila Baleira → Ribeiro Salgado → Calheta · ⏰ 08:30

1. 09:00 → 09:30Meal

   Coffee on Largo do Pelourinho

   The heart of Vila Baleira at its quiet hour: terrace cafés under palms and dragon trees, between the 16th-century old town hall and the mother church. Everything starts here on foot.

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   📍 Largo do Pelourinho
2. 09:30 → 10:45Breakon foot · 5 min

   First swim at Fontinha

   The town beach, Blue Flag since 1989 with lifeguards guaranteed from 15 May to 31 October: 720 m of turquoise water from the Cais Velho — go early, before the 11 am sun.

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   📍 Praia da Fontinha
3. 10:45 → 11:15Break

   Hot-sand bath (psammotherapy)

   The beach's calcareous sand, born of crushed shells, corals and algae, heats to 65 °C at the surface and stays around 40 °C at 10 cm: buried for twenty minutes, it releases calcium, magnesium and strontium into sweat. An island tradition — head in the shade, water within reach.

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   📍 Praia do Porto Santo

   💡 Insider tip — Three therapeutic sands in the world: Porto Santo, Guarapari (Brazil) and Beppu/Ibusuki (Japan).

4. 12:30 → 14:00Mealon foot · 15 min

   Lunch with your feet in the sand — Pé na Água

   A terrace on the beach facing the Atlantic: grilled fish of the day, garlic-butter lapas and homemade bolo do caco — the hour to leave the sand, as the Maritime Authority advises.

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   💡 Insider tip — Booking recommended in July–August.

5. 15:00 → 15:30Breakon foot · 15 min

   Lambecas ice cream

   More than fifty years of history and the archipelago's most iconic ice cream: passion fruit, banana, mango — the afternoon ritual, in the shade, at the hours when you avoid the sun.

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   📍 Lambecas
6. 16:30 → 18:00Breakby bus · 10 min

   Ribeiro Salgado by the boardwalks

   Wooden walkways across the dune ridge, Blue Flag 2026 and the island's longest supervised season (1 May – 31 October); a panoramic terrace and sand recommended for rheumatic complaints.

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   📍 Praia do Porto Santo
7. 18:45 → 19:45Photoby bus · 10 min

   Sunset at Calheta

   For the tourist board, THE Porto Santo photo: the sun drops behind Ilhéu da Cal (179 m) and, on clear days, Madeira's outline shows on the horizon. Terminus of the SIGA "Centro – Calheta" bus.

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   📍 Praia da Calheta (Porto Santo)
8. 19:45Mealon foot · 2 min

   Grilled lapas at Calheta

   The restaurant on Praia da Calheta is known for grilled lapas served with garlic-butter bolo do caco, facing Ilhéu da Cal and its lime galleries.

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   📍 Praia da Calheta (Porto Santo)

   💡 Insider tip — Lapas outside the closed season (1 Dec – 31 Mar).

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — A tub sand bath at the Hotel Porto Santo geomedicine centre (medical advice), then Casa Colombo.

🎒 What to bring — Parasol or hat, sunscreen, water, towel, mask and snorkel; cash for the stalls.

• Sun: the National Maritime Authority advises avoiding the sun between 11 am and 4 pm and drinking regularly — hence beach time early and late in the day.
• Sand baths: the sand reaches 65 °C at the surface in summer — 20 minutes, head in the shade, water within reach; the Hotel Porto Santo geomedicine centre works under medical advice.
• Swimming: lifeguards are guaranteed only at Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Cabeço da Ponta in season; elsewhere follow the flags, and never go into the water to rescue someone — call 112.
• SIGA bus "Centro – Calheta" (running since July 2024): timetables change with the season — check the operator's page below.
• Lapas (limpets): closed season 1 December – 31 March; minimum size 40 mm; no gathering by diving inside the marine reserve.

• 🔗 SIGA bus timetables
• 🔗 Maritime Authority — bathing advice