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Surf spot guide · Madeira, Portugal
Fickle boulder-bottom right point break at the foot of Madeira's towering Cabo Girão cliffs, firing on big W swells.
Two right-hand point breaks sit at the foot of Cabo Girão, one of the tallest sea cliffs in Europe, on Madeira's south coast. Boulder-bottom and well-covered, the waves are generally mushy with steep sections and enough pace to keep intermediates busy when the swell shows up. Faces wrap around the headland on solid W or NW swells in the 1.8-4.6m range, running 100-200m along a rock-strewn line-up. Quality can be genuinely good on the right day but tends fat and slopey rather than hollow. The spot is fickle - it needs a significant W swell to fire. Access is via cable car from the clifftop viewpoint only; the vertical cliffs make any other entry impractical. This filters out casual surfers and keeps the line-up almost empty. Free parking at the top. Rip currents, sea urchins, and submerged boulders are present throughout the line-up.
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Almost always empty. The cable car access barrier filters out casual visitors and the fickle nature of the swell window means dedicated surfers rarely overlap here.
Remote cliff-base solitude
Madeira
Seawall-altered right-hand point over boulders west of Funchal, still delivering fast hollow barrels on the right swell and tide window.
Madeira
Bommie-style reef peak on Madeira south shore, firing on big W swells with long, crumbly shoulders and almost no crowd.
Madeira
Boulder reef left on Madeira's north coast, best on a solid NW swell, with 50-100m walls for intermediates.
+9 MORE →Check cable car operating hours before driving out - it closes mid-afternoon and the cliffs make any other descent impossible
Wait for genuine W or NW swells of at least 2m to make the trip worthwhile
Booties recommended to protect feet on the boulder bottom and from sea urchins
Scout the line-up from the clifftop viewpoint before descending to judge whether the banks are firing
HAZARDS · KNOW BEFORE YOU PADDLE
Only accessible via the cable car descending from the Cabo Girão skywalk viewpoint. Follow signs west from Funchal toward Cabo Girão. Free parking available at the clifftop. Cable car hours apply - check before visiting. No facilities at the break itself.
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