Full Day Sea Tour 6h: The Lighthouse Islet, the Boqueirão, and Madeira's Wild North

There are two ways to sail past the Ilhéu do Farol. You can go around it — circling Madeira's oldest lighthouse on its volcanic pedestal, with the open Atlantic on all sides. Or, if the sea is calm and the tide obliges, you can go through it — threading the Boqueirão, a shallow passage between the Ilhéu do Desembarcadouro and the Ilhéu do Farol, and emerging on the wild northern coast. Our Full Day Sea Tour of 6 hours does whichever the sea allows. Sometimes both.

The Ilhéu do Farol: Madeira's Oldest Lighthouse

At the very tip of the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula, beyond the larger Ilhéu do Desembarcadouro, rises a compact volcanic islet of 107 metres: the Ilhéu do Farol. Its name says everything — farol means lighthouse, and the one that crowns this islet has been warning mariners since 1870, making it the oldest lighthouse in Madeira.

From the land trail, hikers can see it distantly from the final viewpoint at Pico do Furado. From a sailing boat, you see it completely differently — up close, from sea level, circling its base while the Atlantic swells push and pull around you. The islet is a Total Protection Zone within the nature reserve, a predator-free refuge where seabirds nest undisturbed: Cory's shearwaters, Bulwer's petrels, storm petrels, and terns all breed on its rocky ledges.

Option A: Circling the Farol — Baía de Machico and Ponta da Atalaia

When the weather is settled and the sea cooperative, we sail a full circle around the Ilhéu do Farol — one of the finest 360° experiences available from a sailing boat in Madeira. After rounding the lighthouse, we continue west along the south coast, past the familiar cliffs of São Lourenço, and into the Baía de Machico.

Machico bay is sheltered, calm, and backed by the small city of Machico — one of the first settlements established by the Portuguese when they arrived in Madeira in the 15th century. We round Ponta da Atalaia, the headland that marks the western entrance to the bay, before turning back east towards Quinta do Lorde. It is a tour of history as much as scenery: this stretch of coast is where Madeira's story began.

Option B: Through the Boqueirão — The Wild North

The Boqueirão is not marked on tourist maps. It is not on any hiking trail. It exists only for those who approach by sea — a narrow, shallow channel that cuts between the Ilhéu do Desembarcadouro and the Ilhéu do Farol, connecting the calmer southern waters with the raw, exposed northern Atlantic.

Threading the Boqueirão requires the right conditions: calm seas, light winds, and an experienced eye on the depth. When those conditions align, it is one of the most exhilarating moments on any sailing tour in Madeira. The cliffs close in, the colour of the water changes, and then — suddenly — the north coast opens up before you.

What you find on the other side is a completely different island. The north coast of Madeira between Ponta de São Lourenço and Santana is seldom visited by tourists, rarely seen from the sea, and extraordinary in its drama:

• Sheer basalt cliffs rising hundreds of metres directly from the ocean
• Waterfalls that spill straight into the sea from the green highlands above
• Tiny fishing villages clinging to narrow coastal shelves
• The Penha d'Águia — the Eagle Rock — an enormous basalt massif above Faial
• The coastline of Santana, with its UNESCO-listed laurisilva forest beginning just above the cliffs

This is Madeira's least-photographed face, and seeing it from the water — at sea level, with no road noise, no other boats, just the sound of wind and swell — is a privilege that very few visitors ever experience.

The Contrast That Makes It Unforgettable

What makes the Full Day Sea Tour genuinely special is the contrast. You leave Quinta do Lorde into the calm, luminous turquoise of the south coast. You round the lighthouse at the very edge of the island. And then — if the sea allows — you emerge into the north: darker water, bigger swells, towering green cliffs, a sky that feels larger.

The same island, two completely different oceans.

Anchoring, Swimming and the Toast

Wherever the route takes us, the 6-hour tour includes time at anchor in a sheltered bay — snorkelling equipment provided at no extra charge — and a toast on board before the return to the marina. The waters around the eastern tip are among the clearest in Madeira, and the sandy-bottomed anchorages under the cliffs are as good as it gets.

Full Day Sea Tour 6h — In Brief

• Duration: 6 hours
• Departure: Marina da Quinta do Lorde, Caniçal
• Route A (south): Ilhéu do Farol circuit → Baía de Machico → Ponta da Atalaia → return
• Route B (north): Boqueirão passage → north coast → Santana direction → return
• Route chosen: Based on sea and wind conditions on the day
• Includes: Snorkelling equipment · Cold drinks · Toast on board
• Private & exclusive: Your group only