17 June to 13 July 2023

As we entered the harbour walls at Porto Santo we were greeted enthusiastically by our friends Babs, Rene and Rizzo. Rene jumped on board to help us find a good anchor spot as it was already quite busy in the harbour.

We were on such a high from completing our longest sail together that excitement replaced  tiredness and we immediately set about catching up with Babs and Rene over coffee. They had arrived the previous day after a shorter but much more challenging sail north from Lanzarote. It was great to be back in their company.

And it was great to be exploring somewhere new. But where were we? We confess that we had barely heard of Porto Santo and from its quiet streets it seems that the rest of the world has yet to discover it either.

So, in case it has also passed you by, let us tell you what we have learnt about the place. We can even tell you a little bit in Portuguese because our teacher set us the task as homework when we arrived!

O ponto mais alto da ilha e quinhentos e dezessete metros. Os primeiros humanos chegram ao porto santo ha seiscentos anos. Pensa-se que eram de um náufragio.

Porto Santo was the first of the Madeira archipelago to be thrust out of the Atlantic ocean by a volcanic explosion 13.5 million years ago and its peaks and lava flows are still very much in evidence. The highest of the island’s point is Pico do Facho at 517m high.

Apart from a few pockets of habitation, an airport runway that stretches almost its entire width and a completely incongruous golf course, the landscape has probably not changed a great deal since the Portuguese navigator João Gonçalves Zarco washed up on its uninhabited shores over 600 years ago.  In 1418 Gonçalves Zarco and his ship were said to have been blown off course by a storm en route to Africa. Miraculously they found themselves in a bay so well protected that he named it Porto Santo or Holy Harbour. It was from this island that he went on to discover a neighbouring island covered in trees and named it Madeira (wood in Portuguese).

Cristovão Colombo viveu no Porto Santo e casou com a filha do Governador

We have learnt to roll our eyes at the claims of almost every major European port we have visited to have some connection to the most famous of explorers, Christopher Colombus. He is claimed by the Italians (he was born in Genoa) and by the Spanish (his explorations were largely funded by them) but tiny Porto Santo also stakes its claim on him.

Madeira and Porto Santo became important supply stations for the Portuguese. It is said (although actual evidence is hard to come by) that Colombus visited the islands, married the daughter of Porto Santo’s Governor and spent a few years learning from the Portuguese ships plying their trade in the Atlantic. Whether or not he lived in the modest little house tucked behind the church in Vila Baleira is far from certain but it seems entirely plausible that he would have passed through.

A praia do Porto Santo tem nove quilometros de comprimento.

It did not take long to understand just why they call Porto Santo a ilha dourada, the golden isle, and why they claim it as the best beach in Europe. An uninterrupted arc of golden sand runs almost along the entire southern coast. A beach like this is certainly unique in the volcanic Atlantic islands and is undoubtedly what draws the tourists.

You can walk the entire 9km stretch of sand from the marina in the east, through the habitation of Vila Baleira

to the more rugged dunes at the western end.

Porto Santo tem um populacão de cinco mil cento e cinqueta mas vinte e seis mil touristas visteram a ilha cada ano.

The island is tiny – just 12km by 6km – and has a population of less than 6,000. The main town, Vila Baleira, is no more than a Church, a few shops and some bars and restaurants. Although there are two Pingo Doce supermarkets, there is no hospital – the seriously ill or injured must travel to Madeira 30 miles away by sea or air. (*Spoiler alert: we would later have cause to find this out first hand!)

Very few of Porto Santo’s population can claim to have been born there. All expectant mothers have to travel to Madeira to give birth. One baby, however, did arrive unexpectedly early while we were there and we fully expected her to be crowned Queen for all the fuss that was made!

Despite 26,000 visitors each year and tourism being the island’s only remaining industry, it has not been over developed and maintains it’s own character and a real charm.

Porto Santo is sleepy and very laid back. Its people equally so. There is not a whole lot to see and do. As though to emphasise the point, one of its main tourist attractions are the ducks that live in precariously placed houses in the storm drain that runs through Vila Baleira! It really is just all about the beach and the fact that you really are somewhere truly unique way out in the Atlantic.

Turns out, it was a very easy place to while away a whole month…