Porto da Cruz.

Madeira is an island that is popular with tourists. And many parts of the island has a lot of tourism. But Porto da Cruz is hidden behind the cliffs on the east coast of the island and has no big hotels.

I work quite a bit on Madeira island as a tour leader. It’s a fantastic island with stunning natural scenery. My work is quite demanding though and sometimes I just need to get away from all the hustle and bustle on the touristy south coast of the island. And that is when I head to places like Porto da Cruz for a couple of days.

Lovely setting by the sea.

Porto da Cruz is a small village on the east coast of Madeira. It’s squeezed in between high mountains and rock and has a very dramatic setting. Because of that it’s also quite isolated. And that is the main reason why hotel chains have never bothered to build there. And I thank them for that, cause I love that there are just a couple of small family owned places to stay overnight. It’s a perfect place to chill out after some busy days of work.

High Volcanic rocks are surrounding Porto da Cruz.

Why is it called Porto da Cruz?

The town is called Porto da Cruz, cause there used to be a big iron cross placed by the seashore, so that the sailors had something to navigate after.

They have a little booze factory in Porto da Cruz.

The cute little booze factory.

Madeira has quite a bit of sugar cane production. And most of the sugar cane is used to produce alcohol. “Aguardente de cana” as they call it there. Porto da Cruz has a little factory that produces a lot of that alcohol. The alcohol itself is very strong and I would not recommend that you drink it pure. Unless you drink the version that is aged in oak barrels.  But when it’s mixed with fruit juice, sugar and honey, then you get the drink that they call Poncha. And that is a very pleasant drink. and very effective if you want to get hammered quickly 🙂

Trucks with sugar cane, arriving to the factory.

Nice place to stay and eat in Porto da Cruz.

The town has very few accommodation facilities. But one of them is a lovely little place called Costa Linda. It’s a small 2 star hotel with a restaurant. The room I had there was basic, but perfect for my needs. A nice bed, a nice bathroom and wifi that worked perfect. The restaurant belonging to Costa Linda is also very good. And the breakfast, which is included in the room price is better than at most 4 star hotels.

Hotel Costa Linda in Porto da Cruz.

So if you want to get a little away from the tourist scene on Madeira Island, then head to Porto da Cruz. It’s absolutely wonderful there.

Happy goat from Madeira 🙂

One of the local bars.

The town has a little rocky beach too.

Porto da Cruz, seen from above.